RWBY BLAC
by CyrusBlack1
Summary: The children of Team RWBY, Bianca Rose and Alyssa Xiao Long start their first year at Beacon Academy where they meet their teammates and respective partners, the brothers Cyrus and Lucas Grey, along with many other friends. Meanwhile, a ghost from Team RWBY's past returns to haunt them and their children.
1. Beacon

Chapter One: Beacon

The night was cold and dark, rain had begun to drop from the sky and wind blew heavily through the forest, causing the trees to lean and sway back and forth.

Two women were running frantically along a trail, one of them gripping the wrist of the other, beckoning her to keep up at all costs. Their clothes had become ripped and tattered from running through the forest.

Shots of dust rounds began to wiz past them and they struggled to dodge the hail of gunfire.

They came up to an abandoned shack, as they were entering, a dust round struck the older of the two women in the shoulder, her aura being broken in the process. She cried out in pain and quickly closed the door behind her.

The older woman clutched her shoulder, now bleeding profusely, and looked the younger girl in the eyes, "honey, you have to hide, I'll hold them off till Oscar's agent gets here."

The younger girl began to cry and plead with the older woman, "please Mom, you can't, you'll die…" her voice trailed off as her tears became a flood upon her cheeks.

"Baby, don't cry, I'll be fine, just go hide, it'll all be over soon," the older woman said while trying in vain to hide the pain and lie in her voice.

The younger girl whipped away her tears and hugged her mother. She got up and ran into the adjacent room and hid in a closet. As she did this, her mother stood and drew her weapon, a collapsible double bladed sword, from her back.

She turned and opened the door, stepped out of the house and closed the door calmly behind her. She was greeted by four rather imposing men dressed in suits and holding automatic rifles and a young woman with beautiful black hair.

The young woman approached the older woman, "Kai Armina, or shall I call you Summer?"

"What do you want with me?" Kai asked as she readied herself for battle.

"Well you see, my associates and I have been looking for a Maiden for quite some time and we've finally found one, so if you would be kind enough to drop the weapon and surrender, we can get this over with quickly… You and your daughter need not suffer," the woman said.

When she heard that last phrase, Kai's eyes lit up and she began to levitate herself, wind beginning to swirl around her and lightning struck the ground. The four men and woman stood their ground and looked unfazed by the spectacular power Maidens held.

The four men opened fire, but all their shots were blocked by the maiden, who then shot out a massive gust of wind with a wave of her arm, knocking the four gunmen off their feet. However, as she was occupied with them, Kai didn't notice the woman circling around behind her.

She drew a gun from the inside of her jacket and shot Kai in the back, causing her to let out a loud cry of pain drop to the ground in shock.

Kai's daughter heard this and rushed out of her hiding place to see what had happened. Through a broken window, she watched in horror as the woman placed a white glove on her hand and walked up to her mother, who was struggling to lift herself from the ground.

"Since you wouldn't cooperate we must do this the hard way," the woman said as she extended the palm of her hand towards Kai's face. As she did this a strange grim like creature appeared from the glove the woman was wearing.

"You'll never have the maiden's power," Kai said with pain in her voice as she knocked the woman's gloved hand away.

Possessing no strength to continue the fight Kai stabbed herself in the belly with her own sword, and keeled over to the ground.

As she lay dying she mumbled some inaudible words upon her last breath and the maidens power shot from her body and into the old house where it entered the body of her daughter.

"NO!" Kai's daughter yelled as she busted out of the front door of the shack and ran to her dead mother. She gripped her mother's lifeless body in an affectionate embrace, her tears increasing.

"Come along little girl, wouldn't want you to end up like your mother, now would we?" The woman stated rhetorically with a smug look on her face.

As she said this the girl stood up from her deceased mother's body, the sadness and sorrow in her eyes having turned to rage.

The woman seeing that the maiden's daughter was going to fight as well ordered her associates to incapacitate her.

The rage in the girl's body built up and she let out a blood curling scream, causing her five opponents to take a step back in fear.

Fire manifested itself in her hands and she burned the four men alive and lit up several trees behind them, their screams were terrifying to the woman, but pleasing to the girl.

The woman's legs buckled under the weight of the fear that had come over her, for some reason she was found herself afraid of this young girl, this novice. She pleaded and begged for her life, but to no avail.

"Evil… this world is nothing but evil, and I will cleanse it of every remnant… starting with you," the girl said as she lit the woman aflame and left the scene, she could hear her screaming as she walked away and it brought her much pleasure.

She stopped for a moment and picked up her mother's sword and laid her body in a more comfortable position, then continued on her way.

A little while later, a man approached the scene, his long black hair and green tailcoat blowing in the wind. Upon seeing the destruction, a concerned look came over his face as he rushed to see if there were any survivors, the fire had begun to subside, only scared earth and burned embers of trees and the shack remained of the scenery.

He checked the burnt corpses, but there was nothing left, they began to turn to ash as soon as he touched them. It was then that he noticed the one unburnt body in the group, he looked on in horror as he knew it was Kai… Summer. He ran to the body and checked for a pulse, there was none. The man stood from the body and pulled out his scroll to make a call.

A voice came from the other side of the call, the person sounded distraught and spoke frantically, "Ren, what's the status of Summer and her daughter?"

"Summer… Kai is gone, dead, her attackers are too and her daughter is missing," Ren replied.

"Damn… I'm sending a Bullhead to you now, we'll recover Kai, make sure she gets a proper burial," the man said in frustration.

"Professor Pine, sir, I could try and pursue her daughter," Ren stated.

"No, just get back here, we have no idea where she could've gone, if anything she'll come here… hopefully," Professor Pine said with a quiet tone.

"Yes sir," Ren replied and then hung up his scroll and looked down at the dead maiden.

5 years later…

Four teenage girls were speeding down the highway in the City of Vale, in their convertible sports car, their hair whipping in the wind as they dodged in and out of traffic. They turned off the highway and slowed to a more respectable speed for the city streets.

After driving for a few city blocks they turned into a lively suburb and up to a beautiful two story house, the walls were painted a pale golden color, with white trim along the windows and patio. One of the girls leaped out of the car, her long blonde hair and golden tailcoat trailing behind her in the air revealing her curvy and semi-muscular 5'7" figure hugged by her formfitting black pants and t-shirt, when she landed she slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"Thanks for the ride guys, I'll 'see' you later," she said to the other three girls as she walked to her house.

"No problem Alyssa, and congrats again on getting into Beacon, I hope you have fun up there," one of the girls said.

"Yeah, and don't be a stranger, call us sometime," another one of the girls called out.

"I'll be sure to," Allyssa stated as she walked backwards and waved as her friends drove off. She turned, pulled out a key to her house and quickly raced up the three steps to her front patio and unlocked the door.

"Alyssa is that you," the voice of a woman called out from the back of the house as the front door creaked open and then shut.

Alyssa's black tipped cat ears perked in surprise and she jumped slightly, "Yeah mom, it's me," she replied as dropped her backpack on the front-room couch and walked to the back yard.

Alyssa walked through her house, the interior being a clean white color with carpet to match. She had to walk through her kitchen to get to the backyard of her house. Her kitchen was filled with fine stainless steel appliances, well-crafted wooden shelves and drawers, and solid granite counter tops. The sliding glass door to the back door was wide open, while the screen door remained shut to keep bugs out.

Her back yard was big, large enough for parties, many of which had been thrown there, both with and without her parents knowing. There wasn't much in it though, aside from a simple bench next to the back door and a flower garden it was empty.

Alyssa noticed her brother Cerin and his friend Li Ren about to spar, with her mother Yang watching to make sure they didn't go overboard. As Alyssa opened the screen door and stepped outside she heard the high-pitched voice of a young girl.

"Alyssa!" the girl exclaimed as she ran up to the teenage Faunus girl and hugged her with all her might.

"Hey there Pyrrha," Alyssa replied with a happy yet surprised tone while ruffling the little girl's orange and black hair. She half way expected Li to be here, as he and her brother Cerin were close friends, but she was a bit surprised to see Pyrrha, especially without her mother Nora.

"Hey mom, how's it going, and what's Pyrrha doing here without Nora, they're normally inseparable," Alyssa asked.

"Huh, oh, I'm fine, and Nora had to go out of town for the day, just a quick hunt, she asked me to watch Pyrrha and Li until Ren got off work," Yang replied.

"Hey sis!" Cerin called out with a wave and a smile.

"Hey bro, how's your day been," she replied.

"It's been cool, hey you wanna 'watch' me beat the lights out of Li here?" Cerin said.

"You forget who won our last bout," Li retorted, "also, hello Alyssa," he added.

Alyssa giggled at the two boys, "sure I'll 'watch' your fight, and hello Li".

Cerin was Alyssa's younger brother of four years, but you couldn't tell they were siblings. Alyssa is the perfect likeness to their mother Yang, except for the cat ears, while Cerin looked like a young male version of their other mother Blake, however he possessed Yang's lilac eyes. Li, was the spitting image of his father Lei, even in choice of clothing, preferring tailcoats and dress pants as opposed to normal "everyday clothing", except for his eyes, he possessed his mother's in that respect, and the highlight in his hair was orange rather than pink, he had the exact opposite hair of his little sister, whom held traits of both her parents.

"All right boys, remember the rules, Cerin, no paralysis strikes, and no dust for either of you," Yang stated, both boys nodded in agreement.

Alyssa and Pyrrha sat on the bench next to the door to the back yard as Yang signaled the start of the fight.

Cerin and Li began circling each other, Cerin's baggy black and blue clothing and Li's fine red tail coat being blown by a light gust of wind.

Li hopped back and forth on the balls of his feet with his nightstick pistols raised and in melee mode, his long-braided hair bouncing around with his movements, while Cerin held his hands in their armored gloves near his waist and shuffled his feet from time to time while feinting sudden movements at Li trying to get him to react.

Li threw the true first attack, a quick kick to Cerin's head, a blow that Cerin quickly dodged with a quick lean backwards.

Cerin struck next, connecting with a quick punch to Li's chest, knocking him slightly off balance and causing him to fall back slightly.

Li regained his balance and closed the distance to Cerin, the two traded, blocked and dodged each other's blows for a few moments, lowering each other's Aura levels.

Li got in a nice strike to Cerin's face with his weapon, staggering him, and knocking him to the ground. Cerin quickly regained his composure, his eyes turning from lilac to bright red, and his fists began to ignite and glow with pure aura energy.

He delivered the final blow, a feinted right hook followed by a powerful uppercut with his left, the force of the punch was amplified by Cerin's semblance which allowed him to shoot his aura into an opponent and shatter theirs.

Li was knocked off his feet by the powerful blow and Yang called the fight.

"And that's the match, the winner is Cerin Xiao Long!" Yang exclaimed, as Cerin started flexing and showing off as he did after a win, especially one against Li.

As Cerin continued to show off, now holding his arms straight up over his head with his fists clenched and running in place, Li tackled him and put him in a head lock, the two began to awkwardly scrap on the ground and Yang tried her best to break them up. Seeing this debacle made Alyssa and Pyrrha sit in silence for a moment and then break into laughter.

Alyssa enjoyed 'watching' her brother fight even if she couldn't see him in action, she was born blind, possessing milk white irises and pupils. Even though she couldn't see the world the way everyone else could, she never let it get her down. She was very optimistic growing up, wanting to be a huntress like her parents, but it was uncertain if she would be able to. Her semblance manifested itself later than most, usually a child's semblance would show at somewhere between six and eight years old, but it was possible, albeit rare to develop or discover your semblance later in life, the chances of developing a semblance drop drastically after someone's ninth birthday. Alyssa didn't get hers until she turned twelve, in fact her younger brother got his semblance before her. When she got her semblance, she found she could project her aura and sense where objects were in the world around her, allowing her to move around and act as if she weren't blind, she also found out from her parents and others that her eyes turned red when it was active. Another aspect of her semblance is that it is partially active all the time, giving her a limited range she could sense things around her at. Getting her semblance was one of the happiest days of her young life, she would no longer be the helpless blind girl and she could live her dream. Her parents Blake and Yang had a huge weight hanging over them lifted that day as well, the moment they found out the details of Alyssa's semblance they broke into tears of joy. They began training her to fight shortly after and she developed a style similar to Yang's, but more defensive and patient, she also incorporated significantly more kicking in her style of fighting. Alyssa has come a long way since then and is now regarded as one of the best fighters in the entire Kingdom, along with her cousin Bianca. However, despite becoming incredibly strong, the prospect of becoming the 'helpless blind girl' again constantly hangs over her shoulders every day.

Two woman, Weiss, and her daughter Bianca were standing in the yard out back of their home, a beautiful rustic looking house on the isle of patch, the same house where her wife Ruby and sister-in-law Yang grew up. Weiss was wearing an outfit like the one her sister Winter wore in her days as an Atlas specialist, however she still sported the same off-center ponytail she did in her youth. Bianca was dressed in athleticwear, a red sports bra, white and red sweat pants with athletic shoes to match. At the edge of their yard was a line of trees that wrapped around the house and its land, the sun had begun to descend behind this tree line, except for a space cut through the forest for a dirt road that led from the front of the house to the main road into town. The back yard was relatively flat, there was a small slope leading down to a wooden shed big enough to be used as a workshop or bike garage.

Weiss, was standing behind Bianca with her arms crossed watching and evaluating her. "1… 2… 3… 4…" she said.

Bianca, stood in a combat ready stance, a saber pointing forward in front of her and another held next to her head in line with her left eye. Every time Weiss said a number, Bianca did a different strike in the air with her weapon, 1, a thrust with the outward pointed saber, 2, a downward slash with the saber held next to her head, 3, a quick flip of the wrist and a diagonal strike with the first weapon, 4, a dual thrust with both weapons, one straight out, the other over her head.

Bianca was visibly tired, breathing heavily and sweating quite a bit, having been training for a couple of hours, despite this, she looked unfazed. She wiped the sweat off her brow, pushed her white and red hair out of her face and got back into her stance ready for another repetition of the strikes.

"Still hard at work I see," a voice called out from behind them, it was Bianca's mother Ruby.

She was walking up to the pair, carrying a tray with a couple of glasses and pitcher of ice water on it, she had on a simple red hooded coat with black pants and shoes and a red and black striped shirt under the jacket. Since her time at Beacon Ruby had let her hair grow out slightly, it now hung down slightly past her shoulders, she had also grown slightly taller, now being about two inches taller than Weiss who stood at a modest 5'4", a fact that Ruby teases her about from time to time.

Bianca flipped her around sabers in her hands, sheathed them, and walked up to her mother Ruby and quickly downed the glass of water she handed her, "thanks mom," she said.

"No problem sweetie, your saber skills have really improved since the tournament," Ruby stated.

"Yes, they have, but she's still got work to do, she missed at least four opportunities to end the final match, and she can't rely on her scythe all the time," Weiss interjected.

To the untrained eye and fighters who didn't know her, Bianca looked like a master with both forms of her weapon, but to someone who fought and trained with her, they knew her skills with the scythe far outweighed her skills with the saber. Earlier in the year Bianca competed in the annual Vale Regional Combat Tournament, where she was a favorite to win her third straight title in the event. She advanced all the way to the final round, defeating all her opponents, but only gaining a significant upper hand on them once she shifted her weapon into scythe mode. When she got to the final round, she fought her cousin Alyssa, whom she had sparred with multiple times before, and fought in the semi-finals of the previous year's tournament. Alyssa knew Bianca's fighting style and her tendencies in combat and due to her semblance, she predicted most of Bianca's moves before she could make them. Not once during the fight did Alyssa give her cousin the chance to switch her weapon to scythe mode. She took advantage of all the miss-steps and mistakes Bianca made and upset the two-time reigning champion, not even Bianca's semblance, her amazing speed, could win her the fight. Even though she lost, Bianca doesn't feel any animosity towards her cousin over the fight, they are family after all, however she does hold the loss against herself heavily.

"Honey, must you be so hard on the girl, even I'm not as good with Crescent Rose's sniper as I am with the scythe," Ruby stated.

Weiss crossed her arms and looked at Ruby prepared to give a retort, probably starting with 'Ruby you dolt', but before she could say anything she was cut off by Bianca. "Mom, she's right, Summer and Winter aren't the same type of weapon as Crescent Rose. Yes, they can form a scythe, but it's not two parts of the same weapon, it's two separate weapons that become one, and I need to master both if I am to become a better fighter."

Ruby looked at her daughter with a bit of surprise in her eyes, this look quickly changed to one of agreement as she ruffled Bianca's hair, "that's my girl, always hard at work trying to get better at everything she does, just like her parents."

Bianca smiled at her mother's words, but her smile held back a sort of nervousness and fear she kept from her parents. Being the daughter of two of the greatest huntresses to graduate from Beacon Academy came with some unwanted attention and expectations. From the very beginning she was expected to carry on in her family's footsteps and become a huntress, which is something she wanted to do regardless, but she was expected to be the best at everything by outsiders. Her parents never intentionally held their accomplishments above Bianca's head as an expectation, but it was place there by others in her life, her friends, teachers, and critics all compared her to her mothers, she struggled to keep up with this image. People who knew her parents pointed out that even though she possessed the same semblance she wasn't as fast as Ruby or as good with a scythe and that she wasn't as even close to Weiss' skill with a blade. She kept training and training to improve her skills and they showed in back to back Vale tournament victories, and her critics seemed to die down… that is until she lost to her cousin the next year. When she lost to her cousin, people started to say that Ruby and Weiss would've never lost to a blind opponent, even to one as skilled as Alyssa, they just wouldn't let up. Bianca thought of attending a different huntsmen academy to try and escape her critics, but after getting approved for entry into all four she thought it over for a while and ultimately decided to face them and attend Beacon Academy. Even though she's decided to face her critics, she still has a feeling in her gut that she isn't good enough and won't be able to live up to her parents' legacy.

"You two should finish up here, it's getting late and we have to get up early tomorrow, we're meeting my sister and her family before Bianca heads off to Beacon," Ruby said as she started to walk back towards the house.

Weiss struck herself in the forehead with her palm, "oh, that's right, I completely forgot. Bianca dear that's enough for today, run inside and wash up, I'll start working on dinner."

"No need for that babe, I ordered us a pizza," Ruby stated as she pulled out her scroll to check the time, "it should be here in around ten minutes."

"Yay, Pizza!" Bianca exclaimed with excitement. Pizza was her favorite food, after cookies of course, "What kind did you get?"

"Just a normal pepperoni pizza," Ruby stated.

"Oh, thanks honey, that was thoughtful of yo… Wait a minute," Weiss got a suspicious look on her face and placed her hands on her hips, "where did you order the pizza from?"

"Toni Tigre's, it's the only place that delivers," Ruby replied. Toni Tigre's is a relatively newly opened pizza shop on the island of patch, having done so about six months ago, they had heard good things about the establishment, but never ordered from there until now.

Weiss squinted at her wife, her suspicions beginning to be confirmed, "uh-huh, you didn't just order a pizza, did you?"

Ruby put her hands behind her back and started to sway back and forth, attempting to act innocent, "maybe."

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and clinched her eyes shut, "you got the giant chocolate-chip cookie too, didn't you?"

"Okay fine, you got me," Ruby said with a hand raised in the air and a joking smile on her face. When Bianca heard that her eyes began to sparkle with anticipation and excitement.

A smile came over Weiss' face and she began to giggle lightly, "I swear, in the twenty-five years I've known you, you haven't changed a bit."

"And that's why you love me," Ruby said playfully as she began to walk back to the house.

"Ugh, you're such a dolt," Weiss said jokingly.

The three of them entered their home from the back yard, the interior matched the rustic exterior, about the most modern looking items inside were the television set and kitchen appliances. Ruby walked into the kitchen to set the table for dinner, while Weiss sat on their couch and grabbed a book she had been reading, 'A Man with Two Souls' her sister-in-law Blake recommended it to her recently when she was looking for a good book to read. Bianca headed upstairs to wash up and change into some fresh clothes.

The pizza guy arrived shortly after Bianca finished getting ready, a little longer than expected, but they did live pretty for from the main town of Signal. As expected the order included a large pepperoni pizza and a pizza-sized chocolate-chip cookie. Ruby paid and tipped the delivery boy and sent him on his way after he gave her the pizza and cookie.

Bianca carried the two items to their kitchen table and the three of them dug into the food. After eating dinner, which included about ten minutes of Bianca and Ruby ogling over the giant cookie while eating the main course, the three women relaxed for the rest of the evening and then headed off to bed.

The next morning Ruby, Weiss, and Bianca got ready to leave for Vale, Ruby and Weiss threw on outfits similar to what they were wearing the day before, while Bianca put on a red and black combat skirt and corset with a white long sleeve blouse underneath, she also put on some black and red leggings that extended three quarters of the way up her thigh, red and black lace boots, and a white hooded cloak, her cloak was pinned on her right shoulder by a pin that was a combination of the Schnee family glyph and Ruby's rose, and she arranged her hair into a simple pony tail that hung off the left side of her head and onto her shoulder.

The trip from their home to the city of Vale wasn't incredibly long, about ten to fifteen minutes to drive to the airship docks in the town of Signal from their house and then about another two hours by airship from there to the mainland.

When they arrived at the airship docks in the City of Vale, the three of them were greeted by Yang, Blake, Alyssa, and Cerin. Yang and Cerin had big smiles on their faces and were both waving at their family and motioning for them to hurry over.

Yang had on her 'don't give a shit' outfit with the sleeves rolled up showing off both her real and robotic arm.

Cerin was wearing his typical outfit, an unzipped black short sleeve jacket over top of a long sleeve blue t-shirt, black cargo shorts, tall white socks, black and blue skate shoes, and white hand and wrist wraps.

Alyssa and Blake were leaning up against Yang's large bright yellow SUV, both had a similar look to them, arms crossed and a slight smile on their faces, happy to see their family again. Alyssa had on her usual outfit, the golden tail coat over the top of her formfitting black shirt and pants with her gray and gold combat boots and vambraces on as well.

Blake had on an outfit that was similar to her 'intruder' outfit she wore in her youth, the main difference was that the coat covered her midriff and it didn't have as large a collar.

Yang ran over to Ruby, Weiss, and Bianca and gripped all of them in a huge bear hug, "I'm so happy to see you guys, it's been far too long since we last saw each other."

"Nice to see you too Auntie Yang," Bianca struggled to say under the immense pressure of Yang's hug.

"Yang. Can't. Breath. Need. Air." Ruby pleaded.

"Oh crap," Yang released the three women from her grip. "Sorry, sometimes I forget my own strength," she said.

"I'll say," Weiss said, sounding a bit annoyed while straightening out her clothes. "Besides, it's not like we haven't seen each other in years, we literally saw each other two weeks ago."

"That's two weeks too long Ice Queen," Yang retorted with a smile.

As the four of them continued to talk, Blake, Cerin, and Alyssa walked up behind them. As they were walking up, Bianca couldn't help notice something was different about her Aunt Blake. She inspected her for a moment, unsure what was different, then it hit her. Her eyes widened in surprise, Blake's once long and beautiful black hair had been chopped down to a medium bob. Bianca was in a bit of shock, of all the pictures of her family she had seen, only her mother Ruby wore her hair short in them.

"Bianca, you ok?" Blake asked with a tilt of her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I was just a bit surprised to see that you had cut your hair. Why would you cut it?" Bianca replied.

"I felt it was time for a change, that's all," Blake stated.

"Relax B, it came as a shock to us too," Alyssa cut in while pointing to herself and Cerin.

"Yeah, it is quite a sho…" Bianca was cut off by a sudden screech from behind her.

"Oh my god! Blake, what happened to your hair!" Both Ruby and Weiss exclaimed in surprise.

"Ugh, I'm starting to regret this already," Blake said while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Mom, it'll be fine," Alyssa said reassuringly.

"Come on guys, don't act like that, I think it looks purr-fect," said Yang with a sly grin on her face. Her comment caused everyone except Blake and Cerin to simultaneously face-palm, Blake blushed and rolled her eyes at her wife's pun, all the while Cerin struggled to hold back his laughter.

"If we're done freaking out about my hair, we need to go drop Cerin off at Coastal before he's late," Blake said.

"Right, come on everyone, we can catch-up in the car," Yang added.

The seven of them piled into Yang's SUV and they headed off to the upper-class district where Coastal Academy Combat School was located. Coastal was one of three combat schools located within the city of Vale itself, along with Central, located in the residential district, and Industrial, located in the industrial district. While not as well-known as Signal Academy, Coastal was one of the top combat schools within the Kingdom of Vale, routinely sending many of its students to the four huntsman academies.

They arrived at Coastal after a thirty or so minute drive through the city. Many students and teachers were heading inside the school through the front entrance. The entrance-way looked like the face of an ancient temple or acropolis, the white marble pillars towered above the people walking inside. Atop the pillars was a triangular stone carved mural, depicting ancient warriors clad head to toe in armor battling the Grimm, other than the entrance way, the rest of the building appeared to be modern looking. To each side of the entrance were the two-story building wings, each with two rows of six windows each, one row for each story. At the end of each wing was a structure that had a similar shape to the entrance way, these were also two stories tall and had two rows of three windows each.

Yang pulled up to the front of the school and Cerin let himself out of the car. He waived back at his family members and they waved back. After waving good-bye, he ran over to his friend Li who was standing in front of one of the large pillars waiting for him.

After dropping Cerin off, Yang drove the rest of them back over to the airship docks where the transport to Beacon would soon arrive.

"All right, looks like the transport is here already," Yang says as she parks her car.

The six women get out of Yang's SUV, Bianca and Alyssa grab their things from the back of it and the six women walk over to the large airship.

Ruby looks to her daughter, "do you have everything sweetie?"

Bianca begins talking to herself, patting herself down and going through her suitcase and backpack, "let's see… clothes, magazines, dust, Summer and Winter, pens, pencils, paper…" she rummages around in her back pack for a few more moments to see if she forgot about anything, "Yup, got everything."

"What about you Alyssa, you forget anything," Ruby inquired.

"Nope, made sure I had all my stuff packed this morning," she replied.

They walk over to the entrance ramp, Bianca Alyssa, and Blake exchange hugs and kisses with Ruby Weiss, and Yang, and then board the transport to Beacon. Blake is a professor at Beacon Academy, she has been for quite some time now. Since she lives within the city of Vale and not on campus at Beacon she would normally take one of the Bullhead transports owned by the school, but today she decided to ride in the transport ship with her daughter and niece.

As the ship was about to take off, two men, one clad in black and dark gray, the other in light gray and blue, sprinted past Ruby, Weiss, and Yang, almost knocking them over.

"Wait!" the man clad in black called out. The two of them barely made it onto the ship before it left.

"Dammit Cyrus, when I say we should leave early, we should leave early," the man in gray said to the man in black while trying to catch his breath.

"Hey, Lucas bro, chill, we made it didn't we", Cyrus said nonchalantly to the man in gray, while also trying to catch his breath.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang regained their composure from almost being knocked over, they are a bit annoyed at the event, but they don't let it get to them as they see their daughters off to Beacon.

"Have fun!" Ruby shouts.

"Be safe!" Weiss calls out.

"And don't forget to call every once and a while!" Yang yells as the ship takes off. "Oh, I almost forgot… Don't forget to start your year off with a Yang!"

Weiss shoots Yang a slightly disgusted look, "Really?" is all she can muster to say.

"I'm on fire today!" Yang exclaims as she pumps her robotic fist into the air.

Ruby lets out a soft sigh as small tears drop from her glistening silver eyes. She leans against Weiss and nuzzles her head into her shoulder and neck, while Weiss places her arm around Ruby's waist, she has also begun to tear up a bit. Yang stands next to them with her hands on her hips and a slight smile on her face, her beautiful lilac eyes tearing up as well.

Cyrus and Lucas regained their breath and head over to some nearby benches to relax for the short trip to Beacon, as they walk, they pass Bianca, Alyssa, and Blake. Bianca takes notice of the two men. Cyrus was tall, almost a full foot taller than her petite 5'3" self and had a muscular frame with broad shoulders. He wore a Silver breast plate over top of a white collared shirt. Over the top of both his shirt and armor was a long black unbuttoned trench coat, it extended down to just above his ankles. He also had on a pair of dark gray cargo pants and armored black combat boots and strapped to his back was a two-handed broadsword. His black hair was neat and slicked back, his face didn't seem to match his physique though, it had a soft oval shape rather than a hard and chiseled one. His eyes however were the most noticeable thing about him, they were silver, just like her own.

Lucas was slightly shorter than Cyrus, no more than two or three inches, he had more of an athletic build, nowhere near as muscular as Cyrus was, his shoulders were still fairly broad and squared. Lucas wore a partially unzipped gray track jacket with blue stripes, over top a simple white t-shirt, he also had on a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of gray and white canvas shoes and he had what appeared to be a katana and tanto hanging from his black leather belt. His gray hair was pretty messy, and hung down about half way down his neck, his face was similar in shape to Cyrus', but it was just ever so slightly pointier at the chin. Lucas' eyes were a vibrant blue color. Both had a similar symbol on their clothing, a small disc with what looked to be sharp rays of light coming from it, Cyrus' was in white and on his back, partially covered by his sword, while Lucas' was in blue and in full view, resting on his shoulder.

They walked past the three women and sat at the benches they were heading for, all the while Bianca continued to watch them.

"What you looking at B?" Alyssa says teasingly while poking Bianca with her elbow, startling her and causing her to let out an audible "eeep!"

"N-nothing," Bianca says as she blushes.

"Don't lie I know you were checking out those boys over there," Alyssa says as she gives a slight point with her head toward Cyrus and Lucas.

This motion had caught the attention of Lucas who was slightly slouching in his seat near the window of the transport. Alyssa sensed his attention had shifted to her and her cousin and gave him a flirtatious wink. He disregarded her motion and turned his attention away from the blonde faunus. This rejection caused Alyssa's shoulders and cat ears to sink down to an almost saddened state.

Bianca had looked away from the two boys in embarrassment when Alyssa called out her gawking at them, when she looked back however, her silver eyes met Cyrus'. At first neither really notices, but when they do after only a moment, they look away from each other quickly, both blushing slightly.

Alyssa and Bianca then got this weird feeling like they were being watched, they turned and noticed Blake giving the two of them a 'death stare'.

"I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no.", she said. This caused Alyssa's posture to sink deeper and Bianca to blush a bit more.

As the transport neared Beacon, a hologram of a man with long black hair arranged into a pony tail with a noticeably pink highlight in it appeared, he was dressed in a fine green tail coat and white pants. He began to speak as the riders of the ship gathered around to hear what he had to say.

"Hello and welcome to Beacon Academy, my name is Lie Ren. You are among the few people chosen to attend our prestigious academy. You have shown great skill at your local combat schools and now it is our turn here to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world."

"Wow, I think that's the longest I've ever heard him speak," Blake said with a smirk.

The hologram of Ren fades away as the transport begins to dock at Beacon and let the new students off. Cyrus and Lucas are among the first off, while Blake, Alyssa, and Bianca are among the last.

When she steps off the transport and onto the airship docks, Bianca is taken aback by the beautiful sight in front of her. Beacon Academy, the pictures she had seen didn't do it any justice, it's towering spires made it look like a castle out of the fairy tales she had read as a child.


	2. Initiation

Chapter Two: Initiation

Bianca and Alyssa were finally here, Beacon Academy, the most famous of the four huntsman academies and the alma mater to many famous huntsmen and huntresses, including their parents, the greatest huntresses to walk Beacon's halls. It was time for the next generation to make their mark on this illustrious school's history. Only one more obstacle stood in their way, the initiation.

Bianca's eyes sparkled in astonishment at the beauty of the campus, "Wow, Alyssa look how beautiful the campus is."

"Uh huh..." Alyssa replied.

"Oh… right, sorry," Bianca said apologetically.

Their ship wasn't the only one at the beacon docks, the transports from Mistral and Vacuo had landed just before theirs and the transport Atlas could be seen flying in. Two people from the Vacuan transport caught Bianca's eye, a girl dressed in bright orange and a white-haired wolf-faunus boy dressed in white and black, they each had a suitcase in their right hand and a surfboard slung under their left arm. While Bianca was inspecting the students from Vacuo, both her and Alyssa got a feeling they were being watched again, but this time it wasn't from Blake, who had walked over to talk with one of her fellow professors, a short and hefty man with a large gray mustache. No, this feeling didn't come from Blake, it came from someone else.

Bianca and Alyssa turned in the direction of the Mistralese ship and noticed a dark-skinned girl dressed in many different shades of blue looking them up and down, when the girl noticed she had been seen, she gave Bianca and Alyssa a seductive wink and pulled down the sunglasses that were situated on her forehead and headed off towards the school, she had a bit of swagger in her walk.

After she had finished talking with her fellow professor, Blake walked over to a bronze statue atop a sizable concrete stand. The statue was of a middle-aged man looking out over the edge of the school out towards Vale, he stood like a sentinel forever on guard, it was a previous headmaster, Professor Ozpin, who is believed by the masses to have died defending his students and Beacon Academy during the battle. The stand he stood upon was adorned with hundreds of names, students, professors, and civilians, everyone who died because of the battle, and a central plaque. The plaque read "This monument stands as a tribute to all those who perished at the Battle of Beacon". Three names stood out to Blake, "Ozpin", "Penny Polendina", and "Pyrrha Nikos". Below the main words on the plaque read another sentence in smaller text, "Donated to Beacon Academy by Weiss Schnee-Rose on behalf of the fallen".

As Blake looked over the monument, she placed her hand on it and let out a somber sigh.

Her daughter noticed the sadness in her action, "Mom, you ok?" she asked.

"I'm fine dear… just reminiscing," Blake replied quietly. She then turns to her daughter and niece and pulls a pamphlet out of her pocket, on it is a map of Beacon's Campus. "Listen, you two have a few hours till the student orientation, be here by three o'clock", Blake says as she points to a spot on the map labelled 'Amphitheater', "feel free to check out the campus till then, just don't be late." Bianca and Alyssa nod their heads in agreement. "All right, I'll see you two later, the other professors and I have some last-minute business to attend to." Blake then plants a kiss on each of their foreheads, garnering a few giggles from people around them.

"Mooom…" Alyssa says in embarrassment.

"Bye Auntie Blake," Bianca says in slightly higher pitch than her normal voice, as Blake walks away from the two of them.

"So, B, what do we do now," Alyssa says as she places her hands behind her head and then letting out a deep breath.

"Let's see…" Bianca says as she opens the map and scans it for a moment. "Oh, I know, let's go check out the training halls."

"Sure, lead the way," Alyssa replies.

Beacon's training halls were where all the combat classes were held, along with the Vytal Tournament qualifiers, that is when Beacon is to be the host of the biennial celebration. The building itself was a matte gray color and an elongated oval shape. It was two stories tall with few windows and had two large double doors at the entrance, leading to a central hallway that stretched almost the length of the building.

As they entered the building, Bianca and Alyssa passed by several people, most of them were fellow first years checking out the campus, but a few looked like they were returning students. One of the students that was walking out of the building threw her shoulder into Alyssa's as she passed by her. The impact was quite a forceful causing Alyssa to lose her balance for a moment, the blow was made all the more painful by the woman's heavy steel shoulder pauldron.

"What the hell was that for!?" Alyssa exclaimed as she regained her balance.

The woman quickly turned around, her long burnt orange braid flung around her as she did and her heavy silver and gold plate armor clanked together as she moved. "Learn your place first-year, you're supposed to step aside and allow fourth-years to pass," she shot back at Alyssa.

"Since when is that a written ru…" Bianca attempted to say, but was cut off.

"Cap it Cherry-Head," The woman said.

Indigo eyes met milk white ones as the two women got into each other's faces, the woman was a few inches taller than Alyssa as she looked down at her when they approached one another.

Alyssa started to activate her shot gauntlets as her eyes began to fade from white to red and the woman reached for the large mace on her back, but the two were halted before the situation got any more out of hand.

"Ms. Winchester! Ms. Xiao Long!" A man's voice exclaimed from behind them.

They both looked in the direction of the voice to see that it was Professor Lie Ren.

He approached the two women and they stood down from each other. "Miss Winchester, report to my office immediately, we need to talk."

"Yes professor," The woman said as she walked away. As she passed Alyssa she shot her a smug smile and then continued on her way.

"I'm sorry about that, Ms. Winchester has always been hostile to those outside of her team, especially to first-year students," Ren said calmingly. "Please, continue on your way you two."

"Thanks for that Re… I mean Professor Ren," Bianca said.

Ren smiled at Bianca and Alyssa reassuringly and headed off to speak with Ms. Winchester in his office.

Bianca looked to Alyssa, whom was still steaming, her eyes still glowing bright red, she was breathing heavily, and had her fists clenched incredibly tight.

Bianca grasped Alyssa's hand gently and attempted to calm her down, "Alyssa, let it go… come on let's do what we walked over here for."

Alyssa's eyes faded back to white and she let out a calming breath, "okay," is all she said.

As Bianca and Alyssa checked out the training halls, they noticed that most, if not all the training rooms on the first floor of the building appeared to be of a similar design, the seats were arranged in a half-circular pattern around a lowered floor, there were four rows in all. From the door to the edge of the lowered floor each row was lower than the last. The last row of seats was separated from the edge and the lowered floor by a short wall with a single bar of railing running across the top. The floor was about seven or eight feet below the rings of seats.

After checking out the training rooms they headed down the hall and noticed that there was only one locker-room, it was coed. After they realized this, Alyssa got a sly smile on her face and Bianca's face turned noticeably pink with blush.

A central hall also split the second floor of the building, but it was perpendicular to the first floor's hallway. There were only two rooms, on the right was a fully stocked gym, complete with a sparring ring, weight and cardio machines, punching bags, and wooden practice weapons. The room on the left was a large shooting range, it had fifteen firing lanes, and behind the lanes were a series of lockers fully stocked with different types of munitions, everything from standard bullets to dust rounds and even rail rounds.

As Alyssa and Bianca continued to check out the campus, Professor Ren met with Ms. Winchester in his office after the scene she made with Alyssa, this wasn't the first time she had done this to her fellow students.

Ren leans forward in his seat with his hands held together, "Ms. Winchester…" he says with a sigh, "Scarlet. I understand you've been going through some trauma since your father's dea…" Scarlet suddenly cut off Ren.

"Stop right there, you don't know that he's dead, so stop talking about him like he is," she said aggressively.

"I'm sorry, but he's been missing for months, we have to assume the worst. But, that's not what this is about, since your father's… disappearance, you've become more aggressive towards those outside your team, and your teammates have informed me that you barely talk to them outside of your studies," he replied.

"Whatever," she replied.

"Listen, I too have lost people in my life, friends, family, and teammates, I understand what you are going through, but please, try to lighten up a bit, your teammates and teachers are worried about you… You are dismissed Ms. Winchester," he said softly.

Ren walked Scarlet over to the door of his office and let her out, she didn't say anything to him. As soon as he closed the door behind her, he could hear Scarlet start to cry, she knew her father was most likely dead, but she didn't want to accept it.

"Poor girl, she really has been through a lot," Ren said with empathy in his voice as he looked at a picture on his shelf of himself and the other former members of Team JNPR.

Alyssa and Bianca continued to check out Beacon's campus during the time they had between now and the first-year orientation. They saw Beacon Tower, one of the centers of the CCT and home to the headmaster of Beacon, Professor Pine's office. From there they passed by the dorms, the living quarters of all the students and their eventual home for the next four years. Finally, from the dorms they made their way towards Beacon's cafeteria, the sight of the legendary food fight between teams RWBY and JNPR. It was currently closed, but a sign on the door said that it would be open for dinner after the conclusion of the first-year orientation.

Bianca pulled her scroll out of her pocket to check the time, when she looked at the time she got a fearful look on her face, "Hey Alyssa, when were we supposed to be at the amphitheater for orientation?"

"three o'clock, why?" Alyssa replied.

"hehe… It's two forty-five…" Bianca said nervously.

It took Alyssa a second to process the information, but once she did, she got a look of 'oh fuck' on her face, "quick, check the map, see how far we are from the amphitheater."

"Right," Bianca said while reaching in her pocket where she though she put the map. When she found it wasn't there she frantically patted herself down, but found nothing. After this she checked her backpack and suit case… nothing.

"You lost the map didn't you…" Alyssa said while facepalming.

"hehe… yeah…" Bianca grabbed Alyssa's arm and together they started to sprint towards where they believed the amphitheater to be.

The two of them sprinted through the campus trying desperately not to be late to the orientation. Alyssa was visibly struggling to keep up with her speedy cousin who was on the verge of using her semblance to try to make it to the amphitheater on time.

"Hey, slow down speed demon, you're gonna make us fa…!" Alyssa shouted as she and her cousin collided with two other first-year students who were also running late to the orientation.

"Oh, my god, I'm so sorry," Bianca says frantically as she helps the larger of the two men up from the ground. She then notices the two people they ran into were the two boys she had been gawking at on the ride up to Beacon, Cyrus, and Lucas.

"No worries," Cyrus said, he then noticed that the girl helping him up was the same silver eyed girl he had locked eyes with on the ride up to Beacon.

"Hey, it's you," Both Bianca and Cyrus said simultaneously, causing them to both blush slightly.

"Why don't you watch where you're going," Lucas said angrily as he got up off the ground, "what are you, blind?"

"Actually, my cousin is blind," Bianca retorted while pointing back to Alyssa who was pulling herself off the ground with the help of a bench.

"Oh, yeah, no need to help the blind girl up, that's cool…" she said sarcastically.

"You're fine," Bianca replied.

"Well they don't know that," Alyssa quickly retorted.

"Anyway, I remember you from the ride up, my name's Cyrus, Cyrus Grey, the disgruntled old man in a teenager's body behind me is by brother Lucas" he said while extending his hand to shake Bianca's.

"Hey!" Lucas said, obviously taking offense at his brother's words.

"I'm Bianca Rose," she said as she shook Cyrus' hand.

Alyssa rushed up behind her cousin and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, "And my name is Alyssa Xiao Long! B's cousin," she said with a large smile on her face.

"B? Anyway, pleasure to meet you ladies," Cyrus said with a smile on his face.

"It's my nickname, and it's a pleasure to meet you too," Bianca replied with a smile as well.

"Hey, I'd hate to break up the meeting, but were all gonna be late to the orientation if we don't get moving ASAP," Lucas said urgently.

"Right, let's go!" Bianca exclaimed.

The four of them raced towards Beacon's amphitheater as fast as they could and just barely made it to their destination in time. Professors Ren and Belladonna were just about to start the orientation.

"Woo… we made it…" Alyssa says while trying to catch her breath.

"Come on, there's some room up front," Cyrus says as he motions for his three companions to follow.

After the last of the first-years arrive, Professor Ren steps up to the microphone on the stage in the center of the amphitheater. "Before we get started, our headmaster Professor Pine asks for your forgiveness as he could not be here today. He had urgent business to attend to with the Headmaster of Haven Academy and has taken an extended leave of absence. Until his return, he has named me acting headmaster."

Some of the students start to talk amongst themselves, they sound a bit concerned about this 'urgent business' that their headmaster had to attend to.

Professor Ren silenced the crowed with a motion of his hand and continued his speech. "Now that that's out of the way, allow me to be the first to properly welcome you to Beacon Academy. You have come here in search of knowledge and direction in order to improve your abilities as huntsmen and huntresses, we as teachers will act as your guides in order provide you with that knowledge and direction, provided you don't waste your or our energy in the process."

Professor Ren stepped back from the microphone and Professor Belladonna stepped forward to speak. "Before you leave here, please give your weapons and gear to our quartermaster, you will each be assigned a rocket propelled locker to store your gear in for the duration of your time here at Beacon. Additionally, sleeping arrangements have been made for all of you in the Ballroom and both dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow morning will be served in the cafeteria. Your initiation will begin in the morning, make sure you are ready. You are dismissed."

The first-year students head over to the gated entrance of the locker room connected to the amphitheater and one by one they hand their gear to the quartermaster, who makes notes of every piece of equipment he is given and then assigns a locker number to each student. Bianca hands him her sheathed sabers along with her bottles of dust. Lucas hands him his katana and tanto as well as some containers of dust. Alyssa removes her shot gauntlets and combat boots and hands them and her extra ammo to the man, after doing so, she pulls a pair of slip on shoes from her bag and puts them on. Finally, Cyrus gives the man his Breastplate, armored boots, and sheathed Broadsword, along with the ammo he kept stored on the sheath's strap, he too throws on an extra pair of shoes he brought.

As they were about to leave the amphitheater, Blake approached them, "I see you two barely made it," she says jokingly.

"Yeah, B here lost the map," Alyssa says teasingly, gaining a nervous laugh from Bianca.

"It's fine, at least you weren't late, go on and enjoy the rest of the night, but get some rest, you'll need it tomorrow," Blake replied.

Blake looked over to the two boys who were standing next to her daughter and niece, "ah, you two must be the Grey brothers," she said with a warm smile.

"Yes, pleased to meet you Professor Belladonna," Cyrus said as he motioned to shake her hand.

As Blake shook Cyrus' hand her expression turned from a kind warm one to the same 'death stare' she had given Bianca and Alyssa on the ride up when she saw them gawking at Cyrus and Lucas, "I saw you checking out my niece and daughter, don't try anything and we won't have a problem, got it?" Blake said softly, yet intimidatingly.

"Yes ma'am," Cyrus said nervously. Lucas snickered under his breath at this, but the color quickly sank from his face and a fearful look found its way onto it, as he noticed Blake's attention had been refocused to him.

"All right, well you four have a goodnight," Blake said as she left the amphitheater.

"Yeah, sorry about that, my mom is really over protective," Alyssa said to the brothers who were still in a bit of shock from the encounter.

"N-no, it's cool… Wait a minute, Professor Belladonna is your mom?" Cyrus asked with a surprised tone as he regained his composure.

"Yup," Alyssa replied.

"You're the children of Team RWBY, aren't you?" He asked.

"Yup," replied both Alyssa and Bianca.

"So, you guys wanna hang out with us before we have to turn in?" Alyssa asked.

"Sure, we'd lo…" Cyrus started to say, but was cut off.

"We'll pass," Lucas cut in and then began to walk away.

"What's up with him?" Bianca asked.

"Oh, sorry about Lucas, he can be a bit anti-social at times, I'll check up on him, maybe we can hang out later," Cyrus said as he headed off to catch up with his brother.

As they walk away, Bianca lets out a sigh of disappointment, when Alyssa notices this she turns toward her cousin and gets a sly look on her face, "You like one of them don't you."

Bianca blushes slightly, "N-no," she says.

"Oh, yes you do, I can sense it. So, which one is it, Lucas…" Alyssa says, but doesn't get a reaction from Bianca, "or Cyrus," this time Bianca's blush darkens slightly and she turns away from her teasing cousin.

"Just shut up," Bianca commands as she punches Alyssa in the shoulder.

Alyssa didn't even flinch at her cousin's punch, she just laughed at her shyness for a second.

"Come on lovebird, let's get something to eat," she said as she finished laughing.

A fine dinner had been prepared for the first-year students. A multitude of different foods had been made available for them to choose from, everything from salads, to baked and mashed potatoes, to fish, burgers and fries, and even whole chickens. The students all ate there fills at dinner and after spent the last little bit of time before they had to head off to bed chatting with each other, some boasting how they were going to graduate the top of the class and others just telling jokes with one another, Bianca and Alyssa were simply enjoying the evening and pondering the details of tomorrow's initiation.

"So, what do you think the initiation is gonna be like?" Asked Bianca.

"I don't really have any idea; your parents didn't mention anything about it to you?" replied Alyssa.

"No, whenever I asked them they just said, 'it's a surprise'; what about yours?" Bianca stated.

"I never really asked, but on the way to meet you I overheard them talking about a 'landing strategy', whatever that means," said Alyssa.

"Landing strategy huh… I guess we'll just have to wait and see," said Bianca.

"Yea, I guess so," replied Alyssa.

As the sun set and sky grew darker, the first-year students gathered in the ballroom as they were instructed to earlier in the day. Bedrolls, pillows, and blankets for the students had been laid out in neat rows along the floor by the Beacon staff.

The first-years headed into the ballroom and prepared for a good night's rest, for they would need all they could get for tomorrow. The students got changed in the ballroom's bathrooms, which unlike the locker-rooms, were not coed. Bianca had slipped on a slightly form fitting white t-shirt, similar in design to the one her cousin normally wears, and a pair of red pajama pants adorned with white roses. Alyssa threw on a very baggy gold t-shirt, probably one she stole from an ex-boyfriend because it was way too big for her, and a pair of loose black and gold short shorts.

As she lays down on her bedroll, Bianca saw Cyrus and Lucas walk out of the boy's bathroom and up to a pair of bedrolls across the room from her own. Lucas is wearing a gray tang-top and matching sweat pants, while Cyrus is wearing nothing but a pair of black athletic shorts, his muscular build on full display for all to see. Bianca began to blush at the sight.

Cyrus saw both Bianca and Alyssa and sent them a friendly smile and wave. When he did this, Bianca's blush darkened and she quickly buried her face in her pillow, garnering a giggle from her cousin and a confused look from Cyrus, whom proceeded to shrug the action off.

"You ready for tomorrow bro?" Cyrus asks Lucas as the two lie down on their respective bedrolls.

Lucas just replies with a nonchalant "mhm," as he pulls his blanket over himself.

"Come on man, get excited, we're one day away from officially getting into Beacon," Cyrus said as he casually shoves his brother.

"I am excited, I'm just really tired and would like to get some sleep," replied Lucas in a quiet monotone voice.

Cyrus snickered at his brother, "whatever, goodnight then Mr. Antisocial," he said as he made himself comfortable in his bedroll.

Lucas proceeded to smack his brother in the head with a backhand and then went back to sleep. Cyrus was a bit disgruntled by this, but he didn't want to disturb the other students by getting into a fight with his brother, so he let this one go.

After all the students found their places on their bedrolls and made themselves comfortable, the lights were turned out and the students drifted off to sleep.

The next morning the first-year students were awoken by Doctor Oobleck and Professor Belladonna. Oobleck zipped around the ballroom like a heavily caffeinated rocket waking students up one after another, as he did this Blake shook her head in amusement, other than his appearance, Doctor Oobleck hadn't changed in twenty plus years. He still possessed the same half tucked in shirt and messy tie and collar, but he hadn't aged gracefully, his now aged appearance having been brought on by the stresses of teaching, one of the biggest signs of this was his hair, now mostly a dull gray and only possessing small traces of the dark green color it had once been. As Oobleck continued to zip around the room, Blake carefully walked through the sleeping students and gently woke them up one by one.

Oobleck zips over to Cyrus and Lucas, whom were lying on their bedrolls half awake, he looks down at them and takes a sip of his coffee, "Time to get up!" He says quickly and loudly, startling the brothers.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Cyrus says frantically.

Lucas gets up quickly shaking his head to try to wake himself up, "ugh, could you be any louder?" He asks the hyperactive professor, but Doctor Oobleck has already zipped over to the next set of students.

Oobleck looks towards Bianca and Alyssa who despite all the commotion appear to be sleeping soundly still, he then looks over to Blake and gives her a slight nod of his head and a smile, before zipping to the next set of students.

Blake approaches her sleeping daughter and niece and proceeds to gently wake them up. "It's time to get up you two," she says lightly while kneeling.

"mmm… five more minutes," Bianca said with a tired and slightly annoyed groan.

Alyssa is the first of the two to awake. She gets up rubbing her eyes to get the sleep out of them, then proceeds to yawn and stretch quite heavily. "Hey mom, good morning" she says in the middle of her yawn.

"Good morning honey, can you give me a hand in waking your cousin up… I think a little Xiao Long touch is needed here," Blake says jokingly.

"No, wait! … I'm up!" Bianca says upon hearing this, while frantically trying to untangle herself from her blankets, earning a laugh from both Alyssa and Blake. The last time Bianca heard that phrase she had been yanked out of bed rather aggressively by her Aunt Yang.

"You two have a big day ahead of you, be ready," Blake says

Blake then gets up from her kneeling position and proceeds to walk away while ruffling both Alyssa's and Bianca's slightly messy hair, gaining a slightly annoyed look from the former.

The two students proceed to a changing room to get dressed and ready for the day, after which they head to the cafeteria for breakfast.

After eating a fantastic breakfast of Pancakes prepared by Professor Ren and the kitchen staff, the two of them along with the rest of the first-year students proceed to the locker room where their weapons and gear had been stored the day before in their assigned rocket propelled lockers.

"Let's see," Bianca says as she looks down at the paper she was given with her locker number on it. "Locker 636, where are you at… ah, there you are!" She exclaims slightly when she finds her locker.

Conveniently the quartermaster had given Alyssa Locker 635, the one right next to her cousin's, so she just followed her and waited for her to find their lockers. Once she did, they removed the gear they had given the quartermaster the other day.

"Ah, finally, I've been itching for a real fight since the tournament," Alyssa said as she strapped on her shot gauntlets and combat boots.

"Hehe, same, you know I still want a rematch for that, right?" Bianca says seriously, but with a light laugh.

"Yeah, just know it'll end the same way as the tournament finale, Summer and Winter are no match for Shadow Celica and Hidden Flame." Alyssa boasted.

Shadow Celica was the name of Alyssa's 'dual range shot gauntlets', even though they have a similar name to her mother Yang's weapon, Ember Celica, they do not resemble hers in the slightest, Alyssa's shot gauntlets resemble metal vambraces rather than golden bracelets in their base state. Also, when Alyssa activates Shadow Celica's combat mode, they expand to reveal not one, but two gun barrels and they also cover her hands fully with articulating plate armor, giving her much more protection. Hidden Flame is Alyssa's secondary weapon, classified as 'short range shot boots' they are steel-toed for added impact when kicking and they possess guns located in the heel of the boot, used for both accelerating her kicks and doing extra damage in melee.

Summer and Winter are the names of each of Bianca's sabers. They mainly get their names from the dust she imbued them with; Red fire dust for Summer, and Light Blue ice dust for Winter. But, she also admits she named Summer after her late grandmother, whom she never knew, and Winter after her Aunt, the current Headmistress of Atlas Academy, and a woman she looks up to and reveres greatly. Her sabers also have the ability to combine and transform into a scythe of a similar size to her mother Ruby's Crescent Rose.

As the two girls continue to get ready for the initiation, Cyrus and Lucas stroll into the locker-room.

"Seriously man, why'd they have to cut me off, I wasn't even full yet," Cyrus complained.

"Ar… are you serious right now?" Lucas asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I'm serious, do I sound like I'm joking?" Cyrus replied.

"Three ten stacks Cyrus… thirty pancakes, that's why they cut you off," Lucas scolded.

"Oh, come on, I've eaten way more than that without any problem, besides, was it not a buffet," Cyrus joked.

"They only have so much, and everyone has to eat" Lucas replied sharply.

"They had plenty more, it's not like they were almost gone," Cyrus retorted.

"Ugh, what am I gonna do with you," Lucas said while facepalming.

Alyssa and Bianca notice the two boys as they are finishing their conversation and call them over to chat, to which they kindly oblige.

"How have you two been since we last talked?" Bianca inquired.

"Meh," replied Lucas in his typical monotone and uninterested voice.

"Other than almost getting into a fight with some stuck up army brat from Atlas, I'd say we've been pretty good, what about yourselves?" Cyrus said.

"We've been pretty good," Alyssa stated.

"Oh, you guys got into it with a returning student too," Bianca stated.

"I'm not too sure the guy was a returning student, but he was still obnoxious nonetheless," Lucas said.

"So, have you two heard the rumors?" Cyrus asked the two girls.

"No, what rumors?" Both replied in unison.

"I overheard a couple of students talking about how we get assigned our partners and teams today," he says.

"Really, did they say how?" Bianca asked.

"No, I don't think so, shouldn't you know this anyway? Your parents didn't tell you anything about the initiation?" Cyrus replied.

"No, every time we'd ask they'd say, 'it's a surprise', and that's it," she stated.

"Yeah, we even tried asking Ren and Nora, but they just laughed and told us the same thing," Alyssa added.

"Ren and who now?" Cyrus asked.

"Professor Ren and his wife Nora, they were in the same class as our parents," Alyssa stated.

"Ah, okay," Cyrus replied.

The load speaker suddenly turned on with a sharp ring that caused many of the first-year students inside the locker room to wince slightly. The voice that came over it was that of Professor Belladonna.

"Attention, all first-year students please report to Beacon cliff immediately for initiation," she says.

"Hey, we'll catch up later, Lucas and I gotta get ready," Cyrus says as he and his brother hurry over to their lockers and rush to put on their gear.

"Okay, see you guys later," Alyssa says with a smile and a wave towards the brothers.

The first-year students left the locker room once they were finished prepping themselves and their equipment. When they arrived at Beacon Cliff, which overlooked the emerald forest, an area of wilderness teeming with all sorts of Grimm from Beowolves and Ursai to Deathstalkers and Giant Nevermores, Professors Belladonna and Ren greeted them. The students were directed to stand on metal squares adorned with Beacon's sigil, a pair of crossed axes over top of a disc that was flanked by an olive branch on each side.

Professor Belladonna steps forward to address the students. "Today your abilities will be tested in the Emerald Forest in our annual Initiation. You will also be given your teams and partners today. It is within your best interests to be paired with someone you work well with and with that being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner here for the next four years."

Some of the students look around at their friends upon hearing this info, hoping that they find each other within the forest. Alyssa nudges Bianca with her elbow and gives her a thumb up. Bianca reciprocates this with a smile.

Blake steps aside and allows Ren to speak to the students, "You have come far in your journeys to become huntsmen and huntresses, today marks your official first day here at Beacon. Once you've got your partners make your way to the northern edge of the forest, there will be plenty of opposition on the way, don't hesitate to dispatch any foe that gets in your way or you will perish. At the northern edge of the forest you will find a temple, in it are several relics, each pair much retrieve one of these relics and return to the top of the cliff. Once you have returned with the relic you will be given your final grade for the day, now, ready yourselves and prepare your landing strategy."

Some of the first-year students are a bit confused at this last statement, while most appear ready for the unknown. Bianca takes a moment to see how the other students were holding up, most looked confident, some seemed a bit scared.

She looked over to her left and saw the Grey brothers exchange a confident 'see you on the other side' smile and a fist bump with one another.

Behind them she noticed the orange clad girl and the white-haired wolf faunus boy that she saw exiting the Vacuan transport yesterday, she hadn't noticed it before, but the girl had a large tribal tattoo on her right arm, it extended from her shoulder blade and chest all the way down to her wrist. They gave each other a quick kiss before readying themselves for what would happen next.

Bianca turned to see the students on her right, she noticed the dark-skinned girl dressed in blue that had been checking out her and her cousin the other day, she looked calm and maybe a bit overly relaxed.

Next to her was a boy dressed in silver-blue military garb, he had a serious look on his face and was tightening his gloves, after this he snapped his fingers on both hands, igniting a small flame in each, which he quickly inspected and then put out with a wave of his hands.

The rest of the first-years finished preparing themselves when they were suddenly launched from the cliff one by one by the small platforms they had been standing on.

The wolf faunus boy was launched off the cliff, followed quickly by the orange clad girl. When she was launched, she let out an excited shout, "CHEE-HOO!"

A few more students were hurled off the cliff before it came to Lucas and Cyrus, who were launched in that order respectively.

Alyssa gave her cousin a quick wink and smile before too she was launched off the cliff.

Bianca was launched quickly after her cousin, followed soon by the dark-skinned girl and the boy dressed in military garb.

As the last of the students were launched from the cliff Blake walked up to Ren, "So, 'Acting Headmaster'," she said teasingly, "what did you decide to use for relics?"

Ren looks at Blake with a smirk, "a little throwback," he says.

Blake snickers lightly as she knows exactly what her friend means by this.

The students fly through the air at an incredible speed over the tree tops of the Emerald Forest. As they begin to descend they use their abilities and equipment to make their landings. This was where they had to come up with a landing strategy if they hadn't already.

Lucas activates his semblance, glyphs, he uses them to break the impact of him hitting a tree and then proceeds to push off said tree and jump to the ground, landing in a kneeling position, and then dusting himself off as he starts to head to the northern edge of the forest.

Bianca draws one of her sabers, Winter, and thrusts it into a tree she passes, stopping herself and uses it to slide down the trunk of the tree and to the ground.

"All right, time to move," Bianca says as she hears the other students making their landings.

Cyrus draws his weapon, a Broadsword and grasps it by the blade, he uses the cross guard to hook a tree branch, slowing his momentum enough to begin his landing, from there he jumps from tree to tree as he descends to the ground.

Alyssa channels her Aura into her semblance, fully activating it. From here she can sense where the trees are and where the top branches were as well. She then starts firing off Shadow Celica to slow her forward momentum, once she does this she flips around and fires off a shot from Hidden Flame, sending her into a reverse swan dive. She falls through the canopy and swings off a branch and onto a larger one capable of holding her weight. Once she lands, she jumps from branch to branch, and down to the ground. Once Alyssa landed, she calmed herself down and deactivated her overcharged semblance so it was back to its normal levels.

After walking for some time Bianca notices a very scrawny looking pale boy dressed in black perched in a tree watching her. His shoulders and head were covered by black hood and scarf so she couldn't see his face.

"Hello, my name is Bianca, I think were supposed to be partners now," she says, but gets no response from the boy.

She suddenly hears rustling in the bushes behind her and quickly reaches for her weapon and turns toward the noise, but she is calmed when she realizes it was only a red fox after it emerges from the bushes. When she turns back to where the boy was in the tree, he is gone, nowhere to be seen.

"Huh, that guy was weird," she remarks and continues on her way.

After walking for what seemed like an eternity to her, Bianca pushes her way through some thick brush, only to trip over something rather large once she reaches the other side. When she pulls herself off the ground, she notices that she disturbed a pair of sleeping Ursai.

The beasts awake to see the small girl standing in front of them, when they see her they quickly get up and prepare to attack by letting out an intimidating roar.

Bianca draws both of her sabers and prepares for the coming fight, a determined smile coming to her face.

The first of the two beasts charge her, but before it hits her, she activates her semblance and jumps into the air. The bewildered beast looks up to see Bianca activate her semblance once more, but this time she spins her body creating a tornado like affect.

As she descends upon the beast with incredible speed, she extends her swords out as she spins and strikes the beast's neck, decapitating it as she lands, a light rain of white rose petals descending around her.

The second Ursa then rears back on its hind legs and roars mightily before it drops back down and prepares to charge.

As the beast charges Bianca, she counter charges it with her semblance. The two opponents pass one another as they strike, both stop, just after passing each other.

The Ursa falls to the ground as Bianca stands from her slight kneeling position and sheathes her weapons.

Bianca hears more rustling in the bushes next to her. She draws her weapons and readies herself for another fight, "who's there," she calls out commandingly.

"Bianca? Is that you?" The voice of a man calls out from the bushes.

As the man emerges from the bushes, Bianca notices who it is, "Oh, hey Cyrus," she says as she sheaths her sabers once more.

"I heard a load roar while I was walking, figured someone needed help… but, looks like you got it under control," he said as he points to the evaporating Ursa corpses.

"Yeah… so, Cyrus, have you found a partner yet?" Bianca asks with a slight blush coming over her face.

"No, I haven't, you?" Cyrus replies.

"Nope, I haven't either," she says shyly.

Cyrus notices her blushing, "are you okay," he asks.

"I'm fine," Bianca replies as she takes a breath and ceases blushing. "I guess that means were partners."

"Partners," Cyrus says as he extends his hand to shake Bianca's.

Bianca grasps Cyrus' arm in a forearm handshake, "Partners," she says with a smile.

Having found each other, Cyrus and Bianca continue their journey to the temple to retrieve the relics. As Cyrus and Bianca make their way to the temple, many of the other students are finding their partners and doing the same.

"That was easy," Alyssa says while stretching her arms and walking through the forest, with a pair of dead Boarbatusks laying on the ground behind her, their corpses slowly evaporating.

As Alyssa is walking she senses something big approaching her quickly. She turns toward the direction it is coming from and readies herself for a fight.

An Alpha Beowolf crashes through the tree line and swings its large claws at Alyssa, whom quickly dodges.

As the beast rears back and takes another strike at her, three arrows hit it in the side of the face and explode, killing the beast instantly.

Alyssa turns in the direction the arrows came, standing in the tree line is Lucas sheathing his weapons. The two exchange a smile and a nod of the head and continue towards the ruins.

As the day continued, the first of the students had returned to the cliff. The girl in orange, the white-haired wolf faunus boy, the man in silver-blue and the dark-skinned girl.

"First students back; Alani Kamehameha, Yin Okami, Roy Stallion, and Ebony Tacari," Blake said as she input their names into her tablet.

As the day progressed more of the first-year students returned to the cliff, after a few hours all the students except Bianca, Alyssa, Cyrus, and Lucas had returned, they were getting close to the temple and were bound to run into each other soon.

Blake checked up on them from her tablet to see if they were ok. As she opened it she saw Bianca and Cyrus enter the clearing where the Temple was, when she saw them she felt relieved, nothing bad had happened to them, but their test wasn't over yet.

When Cyrus and Bianca had broken the tree line a beautiful and lush field greeted them, in the center was the temple with the relics.

"Look! There's the Temple!" Bianca exclaimed as she ran towards the ruins.

"Hey! Wait up!" Cyrus called out as he struggled to keep up with his speedy partner.

Blake switched her camera feed from Bianca and Cyrus to Alyssa and Lucas, she saw the two of them were still in the forest, but they were getting very close to the clearing where the temple and relics were located.

"How much farther do think it is?" Alyssa asked.

"I have no idea, maybe it's this way," Lucas replied as he pointed off to the left and began to walk that way.

"Hold on, let me try something," Alyssa said as she grabbed Lucas by the shoulder to stop him.

Alyssa activated her semblance once more, projecting her aura and senses out around her. Her Aura glowed its bright yellow color as she did this and the pupils and irises of her eye turned bright red like that of a jewel.

After a moment of focus, she relaxed herself and deactivated her semblance and looked towards her partner.

"The clearing is that way," she said as she pointed in the opposite direction of where Lucas was headed.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked.

"Trust me," Alyssa replied with a confident smirk on her face.

A little while later, Alyssa and Lucas broke through the tree line and were greeted by the temple and clearing. The sun had gone down since they started their initiation, it was straddling the tree tops about to go under the sea of green any minute.

As the two broke the tree line Lucas saw two figures running towards the temple, he could barely make out who they were at first, but after he second, he noticed a distinct flurry of white rose petals trailing one and the tail of a black coat trailing the other. The two people that were running were Bianca and Cyrus.

He turned to tell Alyssa, but by the time he looked over towards her, she had sprinted off towards the temple. Lucas slouched in frustration but quickly shook it off and followed his partner.

Cyrus and Bianca were the first of the two groups to arrive at the temple, all the relics had been taken save for two, a pair of Black Knight chess pieces.

"Huh, chess pieces," Bianca remarked.

"So… Which are we going to take, Black Knight or... Black Knight," Cyrus asked jokingly as he pointed at each of the remaining relics.

"We don't have much of a choice," Bianca said as she grabbed one of the two chess pieces.

"Hey, B! Cyrus!" A voice called out for the two of them.

Both Bianca and Cyrus looked and saw Alyssa and Lucas running across the field towards them.

"Alyssa! Lucas!" Bianca called out as she waved with a happy look on her face.

The two cousins ran to each other and embraced one another with a hug, while the brothers greeted each other with a forearm handshake.

"So, this is the relic," Lucas said as he walked over and grabbed the second Black Knight piece.

"All right, let's get back to the cliff now," Bianca stated.

The other three students all nodded their heads in agreement, but before they could head off, a loud howl came from the tree line.

The four of them turned to see an abnormally large pack of Beowolves emerging from the tree line, there had to be at least fifty or sixty of the beasts.

"I think we better go," Cyrus says nervously.

"Agreed," his brother replied in a similar tone.

The four of them sprinted in the direction of Beacon Cliff and were pursued by the pack of Beowolves every step of the way.

They arrived at some massive ruins that resembled the relic temple in style, two large walls of pillars flanked each side of a small clearing, and at the opposite edge of the clearing from where they were standing was a deep chasm. On the opposite side of the chasm were more ruins that looked like they held a path up the cliff.

"Crap! No way across," Cyrus said in frustration.

"Looks like we're gonna have to fight," stated Alyssa as she activated Shadow Celica.

"Looks like it," replied Cyrus as he drew his broadsword.

Bianca and Lucas drew their weapons as well, preparing for the battle to come.

Bianca then began to look around at their surroundings, she inspected the battlefield for anything that would help them survive this confrontation.

"Alyssa, get on top of the pillars, and cover our left flank," she commanded.

"Right," her cousin replied.

Alyssa sprinted off and used Hidden Flame to help her jump up to the top of the pillars next to her team.

"Cyrus, Lucas, do either of you have any ranged weapons?" Bianca asked.

"Yes, we both do," Lucas replied.

"One of you get up on the pillars and cover our right flank," she commanded.

Lucas nodded at Bianca and ran off to do as he was ordered. He used one of his glyphs to enhance his jump and make it to the top of the pillars.

Once he landed he combined his katana and tanto at the pommel, the blades extended, and his weapon shifted into a Yumi Bow.

"Wow… now that's a katana," Bianca remarked.

"So, what's the plan?" Cyrus asked.

"All right, Alyssa, Lucas, don't let them get behind us, Cyrus and I will hold the center," Bianca stated.

The horde of Beowolves charged the four students, while Bianca and Cyrus counter charged and Alyssa and Lucas fired off their weapons to cover their teammates.

Cyrus and Bianca cut their way through the Grimm, dispatching one beast after another with surprising ease.

Bianca moved through the pack like a flower petal in the wind, her fluid motions making it incredibly hard for the Grimm to land a hit on her.

Cyrus chopped the beasts down left and right with precision slashes and stabs from his sword.

"Round one goes to Beacon Academy," Cyrus boasted.

The first wave of Grimm had been dispatched with ease, but the battle wasn't over yet, a second wave charged forward.

Cyrus and Bianca fell back a little so they could be more effectively protected by their teammates.

Alyssa and Lucas were letting loose a hail of dust rounds and arrows on the charging Grimm as they closed the distance to their position atop the pillars.

A few of the Grimm broke off their charge on Cyrus and Bianca to deal with the two students on the pillars.

The Grimm lept at Lucas with intent to kill in their glowing red eyes.

Lucas dispatched the first couple of Grimm before he was forced off his pillar by a Beowolf that had attacked him from behind.

As Lucas landed back on the ground, he separated his weapons and joined Bianca and Cyrus in the melee.

In the confusion of combat, Cyrus and Lucas had become separated from Bianca who was now surrounded by Grimm.

Bianca dispatched a few of her attackers before she was hit from behind and sent tumbling onto the ground.

Cyrus saw this and shouted to his brother, "Lucas! Speed Glyph! Now!"

"Right!" replied Lucas with a shout.

Lucas shot a glyph from the end of his sword to the ground around Cyrus' feet.

Cyrus got into a sprinters stance and shot from his position like a speeding bullet to where Bianca was laying.

Bianca slowly pulled herself from the ground with the help of one of her sabers, as she did this, an Alpha Beowolf was pouncing on her primed and ready to kill.

She turned to see the beast as it was about to hit her, but as it got closer, Cyrus slid in front of her and deflected the beast's strike with his semblance, a barrier of pure Aura energy.

Cyrus then cleaved the Alpha clean in half with his sword. After this he turned and helped Bianca to her feet.

Alyssa was still atop her pillar, ripping into the pack of Grimm with Shadow Celica, but she was quickly knocked off by a Beowolf that took her by surprise.

She hit the ground hard and the beast lept off the pillar down to her.

Alyssa pressed her palms and feet against the ground and pushed off while rotating her hips. She then fired off a shot from the left half of Hidden Flame, accelerating her kick into the Beowolf's face, sending it flying into the pillar she had been knocked off of.

She slowed her momentum by spinning vertically upside-down on her right palm and then summersaulted back to a standing position. After this she joined her teammates in the melee as well.

After finishing off the second wave of Beowolves, a third wave emerged from the tree line, this time there were many more than the first two.

"Oh, come on!" Cyrus shouted in annoyance.

"We've gotta get out of here, like now," Alyssa stated bluntly.

"Hey, Lucas, can you make constructs with your dust and glyphs?" Bianca asked.

"Yeah, I can, why?" He replied.

"Can you make us a bridge to the ruins across the chasm?" Bianca asked.

"I don't think I have enough dust for that," he stated.

The next wave of Beowolves charged the hunters.

"Here, take these," Bianca said and then tossed Lucas her spare bottles of Ice dust. "Get us outta here."

"Okay, but I'm gonna need a second to do this," he replied as he caught the bottles of dust.

"Don't worry Luc (Luke), we got your back," Alyssa said as she uppercut a Beowolf.

"Luc?... Whatever," Lucas said as he prepared a glyph to make a bridge across the chasm.

Bianca, Alyssa, and Cyrus charged the Beowolves and started laying into them, taking them down one after the other.

Cyrus pressed a button on his swords handle and shifted it into its second form, a shotgun. The blade opened down the middle to reveal a gun barrel. The blade then telescoped down and the cross guard and handle reformed to form the grips.

Cyrus let rip a hail of high explosive dust rounds into the horde of Grimm before switching his weapon back to its sword form and dispatching more of the beasts.

Bianca combined her sabers and they formed her weapon's second mode, a scythe. The handle telescoped out and the blades combined and shot forward ninety degrees.

Bianca cut through the beasts with more skill and precision than she had with her sabers, but the grimm were becoming to many for her and her team to handle.

Lucas finished prepping his glyph and shot it at the remains of a destroyed bridge. He then threw the bottles of dust that Bianca gave him at the glyph and shot them with arrows made of Ice dust.

The glyph began to spin rapidly and a bridge of ice was formed, linking the ruins to the area where the four hunters were fighting.

"All right, the bridge is up, let's get moving!" Lucas shouted.

Alyssa, Bianca, and Cyrus all disengaged from the horde of Beowolves and ran to the bridge, while Lucas covered their retreat by raining high explosive fire dust arrows onto the beasts.

The four of them ran across the bridge, but Cyrus, knowing the beasts would follow, smashed the bridge with the hilt of his sword.

Bianca, Lucas, and Alyssa made it to the other side of the bridge as it collapsed behind Cyrus as he ran across it.

Lucas shot a glyph under Cyrus' feet and he lept into the air as the bridge collapsed from under him.

"He's not gonna make it!" Alyssa shouted, as a flurry of white rose petals shot past her.

Bianca rushed forward and slid towards the end of the now destroyed bridge, reaching for Cyrus who reached for her as well.

Bianca stabbed one of her sabers into the bridge as she grabbed Cyrus' arm and saved him from falling to his death.

"Thanks," he said with a smile.

Bianca smiled back at Cyrus and then turned towards her teammates, "could use a little help here guys," she said.

Alyssa and Lucas both rushed forward to help their teammates up. After the encounter, they reached the top of the cliff, and then headed off to the amphitheater for their team assignment.

All the first-year students were gathered in the amphitheater for the assignment of teams. Two pairs of students who retrieved the same relic formed one team. The teams were announced in alphabetical order, so there were a few teams that went before Bianca, Cyrus, Alyssa, and Lucas. One of which was made up of the four students that reached the cliff first.

Professor Ren called up the members of the team together and in alphabetical order, "Alani Kamehameha, Ebony Tacari, Roy Stallion, Yin Okami. You four retrieved the Black Rook pieces. From this day forward you shall work together as Team AYST (Amethyst). Led by Alani Kamehameha."

The crowd clapped and cheered for the new team, while Yin looked over at Alani and gave her a congratulatory kiss on her forehead, gaining a blush and smile from the girl.

After Team AYST, came Bianca and her teammates turn. They were called up the same way as the previous team, "Alyssa Xiao Long, Bianca Rose, Cyrus Grey, Lucas Grey. The four of you retrieved the Black Knight pieces. From this day forward you shall work together as Team BLAC (Black). Led by Bianca Rose."

Bianca was taken a bit by surprise at the last comment, her, a leader, she couldn't believe it. The third generation in a row of her family to be chosen as a team leader. She was one step closer to living up to her family name.

After the last of the teams were assigned, the first-year students were informed that they had been assigned their dorms and their bags had already been taken to them. Professor Ren dismissed the students and they headed off to their dorms, their time at Beacon had officially begun.

.


	3. New Friends

Chapter Three: New Friends

Team BLAC arrived at their dorm room a while after being dismissed from the team assignment ceremony. Along the way, Cyrus, Alyssa, and Lucas had congratulated Bianca on being named team leader, she had shown exceptional leadership and command skills during her team's initiation.

Something was on Bianca's mind the whole way to their dorm though. 'Who was the boy in the forest' she thought to herself, she didn't remember seeing him on the cliff or anywhere before the initiation… maybe she was just seeing things.

Team BLAC had been given their dorm keys when they left the amphitheater like the rest of the first-year students. When they entered their dorm, they were greeted by a pair of bunkbeds, a couple of desks a few empty bookshelves, a sizeable closet on the left wall, and their own personal bathroom through a door on the right side of the room. Aside from the bathroom, it was a standard dorm room. As stated by the Professors, all their bags were in their rooms, carefully piled next to one of the desks in the corner of the room.

"Home sweet home," Bianca said as she entered the room.

"Oh sweet! Bunkbeds!... Dibs on the top bunk!" Cyrus exclaimed as he ran over too and pulled himself on the top bunk of one of the beds.

"Huh, looks like we have our own bathroom," Bianca stated as she looked inside said room.

"Sweet," Cyrus said from atop his bunk.

Alyssa's scroll buzzed in her pocket, when she pulled it out, she found she had a voice message from her mom Yang.

"Hey, just letting you know I'm heading off to Vacuo on a hunt, I should be back in about a week, give or take a few days," the message said.

"Who was that?" Cyrus asked.

"It was my mom, just letting me know she's headed out on a hunt," Alyssa replied.

The dorm building that Team BLAC was situated in was far newer than the others on Beacon's campus. They had been built with larger closets and more space to store items, like a few drawers situated in the base of the bunkbeds, and each dorm also came equipped with its own bathroom, each equipped with a pair of showers, two toilet stalls, and a triple sink, they were like small apartments.

"So, which bunk do you want Alyssa?" Lucas asked his partner.

"Doesn't really matter to me… But, I guess I'll take the top bunk." She replied as she walked over to the bunk opposite of the one Cyrus was on.

"Hey, did any of you notice anyone strange looking during initiation?" Bianca asked.

"Strange looking how?" Cyrus asked.

"I ran into this boy before I met up with you," she replied, "he had on all black, no shirt though, just some very baggy pants and what seemed to be a hood and large scarf around his head and neck."

The three of them thought to themselves for a moment before responding to Bianca, "nope," they all replied in unison.

"Oh… I guess I was just seeing things then," Bianca stated, even though she didn't believe her eyes had played a trick on her… she knew what she saw.

Bianca then noticed a pair of envelopes on the desk near their bags. Written on the faces were her and her team's names with some smaller text bellow them, one read "Bianca Rose and Cyrus Grey", while the other read "Alyssa Xiao Long and Lucas Grey". The smaller text bellow the names read "Class Schedules".

"Whatcha got there Bianca?" Lucas asked as he walked over to her.

"It's our class schedules for the year," she replied as she handed Lucas the one with his and Alyssa's names on it.

"Well, what classes do we have?" Cyrus asked his brother and partner.

Lucas and Bianca opened the envelopes and looked at the classes they were to take this year. They both had four classes on them, three of which were together; "9:30-11:00 AM- Grimm Studies w/ C. Coventina, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM- History of Remnant w/ A. Arenas, and 3:30-5:00 PM- Combat w/ E. Haze". They had the same professor for the fourth class as well, but they had it at different times; Classical Literature w/ B. Belladonna, Alyssa and Lucas had it from 7:30-9:00 AM, while Bianca and Cyrus had it from 1:30-3:00 PM.

"Looks like we have three classes together," Bianca said.

"And we lucked out too, Combat Class at the end of the day," Cyrus said happily.

"At least you guys don't have a boring class early in the morning," Alyssa complained.

"What's so bad about Classical Literature," Lucas asked.

"Two things, One. I'm not a morning person…" Alyssa stated.

"It's true, she's really not," Bianca cut in.

"And Two. Books don't exactly do it for me." She stated bluntly.

"You seemed to be doing well this morning," Lucas said to his partner.

"That's because I was excited for the day and it was almost nine when they woke us up, with that class, I'm… we're gonna have to get up at like six to get ready," she retorted.

"Okay, I see your point about the whole morning thing, but with regards to 'books not doing it for you', I'm sure they have audio or brail books," Lucas stated.

"I guess your right about that," Alyssa replied.

"Anyway, I think we should get unpacked," Lucas said as he grabbed his bags from the pile.

"Yeah, hey bro, toss me my bags," Cyrus stated.

Lucas tossed Cyrus his bags, but instead of being caught, they hit Cyrus in the face, causing him to get knocked off his bunk and onto the ground.

"Th… thanks," Cyrus said while in a bit a pain.

"Are you ok!" Bianca asked frantically.

"He'll be fine," Lucas said as his brother raised his arm and gave his teammates a thumb up, "see, I told you."

After Cyrus recomposed himself, the four of them got to unpacking their things. What books and magazines they had went on the books shelf between the bunkbeds, save for one, a pink magazine with a white wolf head outline on it, labelled "Huntsgirl", Bianca hid that one under her bed's mattress when her team wasn't paying attention. Cyrus put up a movie poster from Spruce Willis' 'The Fifth Relic' on the wall at the head of his bed. They all put their clothes away in the drawers situated underneath the bottom bunks of their beds, however some did it more neatly than others, Bianca, Cyrus, and Alyssa all folded their clothes nicely, but Lucas just tossed his in the drawers haphazardly. Lucas then hung a blue banner with a golden variation of his and his brother's symbol, on the wall over one of the desks.

"Hey Lucas, that symbol, I noticed both you and your brother have it, what's the significance behind it?" Bianca asked.

"It's the sigil of the ancient Kingdom of Helios, it was conquered by Vale centuries ago, our family is said to be descendants of that nation's former ruling class," Lucas replied.

"So, you two are like royalty then," Bianca stated.

"Eh, kinda," he replied nonchalantly while continuing to unpack.

After they finished unpacking, the four of them gathered around each other to talk since they hadn't had much time before then to do so. Lucas lounged back in his bunk while Alyssa removed her golden coat made herself comfortable on hers. Cyrus pulled up a chair, flipped it around and rested his chin and hands on its back and Bianca flipped her white hooded cloak up on her bed so she wouldn't sit on it as she sat on her bunk.

"Since we're gonna be a team, we might as well learn a bit about each other, who's first?" Bianca said.

"Cyrus, you wanna take this one?" Lucas asked his brother.

"Sure," replied Cyrus, "my brother and I are from a small village to the south east of Vale…"

"What's the name of your village?" Alyssa asked.

"It's not worth mentioning, you two probably have never heard of it. Anyway, our father was a huntsman, he graduated from Beacon twenty years ago, he was in one of the first classes to graduate after the school was reopened." Cyrus continued.

"Oh, cool, your family were hunters too," Bianca said with a surprised smile.

"Hehe, yeah…" Cyrus' voice trailed off, gaining a suspicious look from Alyssa.

"Only our dad was a huntsman, our mom was your typical housewife, stay at home, clean, take care of the kids," Lucas cut in, "for what we put her through I might as well call her a 'supermom'," Lucas added with a light laugh and shake of the head.

"Anyway, one day our father left for a mission, normally he'd be gone for a couple days, maybe two weeks at the most, but this time he was gone for a month… after a few more days' passed, our mom got word that he was killed on his hunt, Lucas and I were only about six at the time, but we understood what happened," Cyrus stopped and let out a somber sigh, "hey Lucas, you mind finishing?"

"Sure," Lucas said as he sat up from his lounging position, "A few months later, our mom got sick, really sick, our village didn't have a doctor so all anyone could do for her was make her comfortable…"

"Comfortable while she passed?" Bianca asked.

"Yeah…" Lucas said with a somber voice, "After that Cyrus and I ran away from the village, we lived as orphans from then on. It was hard, but we managed to get by."

"Damn, that's rough," Alyssa stated.

"Yeah…" Cyrus said in an uncharacteristically soft tone.

"So, Bianca, you asked me about my brother and I's symbol, why don't you tell us about yours," Lucas said as he pointed to the white rose and red snowflake shaped pin on her cloak's right shoulder.

"It's my parents' symbols overlaid on each other, but with the colors reversed, they had it made for me on my birthday last year," Bianca replied.

"Cool, so, what was it like being the daughters of such famous huntresses?" Cyrus asked the two girls.

"For me, it was no big deal, being blind, I wasn't expected to achieve much, for me the challenge was perseverance more than anything, but B here, she's had a lot placed on her shoulders for a long time, she's always been expected to be the very best at everything," Alyssa stated.

"It can be challenging to live up to people like Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee," Lucas stated.

"Yeah, but I've done my best to, even though there are still people who look down on me for my short comings and nitpick at my victories," Bianca replied quietly.

"So, your parents held you to high expectations?" Cyrus asked.

"Oh, no, while my parents did push me to be the best I could be, they never held their accomplishments over me as expectations, it was just others outside of my family," Bianca replied.

"Okay, what about you Alyssa, what's up with that Burning bushel of flowers on your shoulder?" Lucas asked his partner who was now laying upside-down and partially hanging off her bunk.

"It's my namesake, a bushel of Alyssum, and it's on fire because my last name 'Xiao Long' means 'Dragon'," she stated.

Bianca stood from her bunk and walked over to the door leading to the hall way, "I'm gonna head to the vending machine down the hall, you guys want anything?" she asked.

"Nope," replied Alyssa.

"Nah," Lucas said.

"I'm fine, but thanks anyway," replied Cyrus.

Bianca just shrugged with an 'okay' look on her face and then left the room. As she stepped into the hall she felt a shiver creep up her spine, the hallway was dreadfully cold now, compared to earlier. She wrapped her cloak around her body, fully concealing it in a sheet of white, instantly warming her. One of the best things about cloaks was they were like a mobile blanket always at the ready.

As Bianca headed down to the vending machine, Alyssa, Lucas, and Cyrus continued to their chat.

"Alyssa, how'd you get that scar on your cheek?" Cyrus asked.

Alyssa touched the scar under her left eye. It was noticeable, being about two inches long and a half inch under her eye. People had stopped asking about it, so it slipped her mind that she had such a mark on her face.

"Oh, this thing," she said while pointing to her scar, "I got it a couple weeks back, some thugs jumped me when I was out on a walk, this was the only meaningful hit they got on me."

"So, what happened to the thugs that attacked you," Lucas asked.

"Let's see," Alyssa said as she thought to herself for a moment, "one of em got tossed into a dumpster, I broke another's ribs, the third one, I'm pretty sure won't be having kids…"

Lucas and Cyrus had visibly cringed at the mention of the third thug's state.

"As for the last one, I think I just knocked him out," she continued.

"Remind me never to piss you off," Cyrus said.

"Gladly," replied Alyssa with a smirk.

As Bianca was walking back to her dorm, a bottle of strawberry soda in hand, she noticed two people exit the dorm across from hers and start walking down the hall in her direction, it was the wolf-faunus boy and girl in orange from earlier.

The girl had on an orange tang-top that covered most of her chest and abdomen other than a thin midriff. It fully showed off the large tribal tattoo that extended from her shoulder to her wrist on her right arm. She also had on black spandex shorts that extended down to just above her knees, an orange lavalava skirt adorned with white hibiscus flowers, the skirt was worn at an angle, exposing most of her upper right leg, and covering her left leg down to her knee. Finally, she wore a brown kukui nut lei around her neck. Her hair was a beautiful brown color and very long, extending almost the whole length of her back, her hair matched her eyes, and they both complimented her caramel skin. She also had a curvy figure and was ever so slightly taller than Bianca.

The boy had on a loose white short-sleeve changshan shirt along with black slacks and shoes of a similar style to the type Ren normally wore. His white hair was short and looked messy, but not as messy as Lucas' was, it was matched in color by the fur on his wolf-tail. His eyes were a vibrant green color and made for a nice contrast to his pale white skin. He had a slim, yet athletic looking build and was slightly shorter than Lucas.

Bianca decided that she would introduce herself to the two of them and began walking towards them.

"Hey," Bianca called out as she walked up to the two of them, "You're from Team AYST right?"

"Oh, hey, name's Alani Kamehameha," the girl in orange said with a smile as she shook Bianca's hand, "who might you be?"

"I'm Bianca Rose, from Team BLAC, we're in the dorm right across from you," she replied, "who's your friend?"

"This is Yin," Alani said as she introduced the wolf-faunus boy.

"Yin Okami, it is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Rose," he said while politely bowing.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, so… are you two partners?" Bianca asked.

"I'd say were a bit more than partners," Alani said as she snuggled up to Yin, gaining a smile from him.

"So, you two are together then?" Bianca asked.

"Oh, were together alright," replied Alani as she looked up at Yin.

"Together, together," stated Yin as he gave Alani a quick peck on the lips.

"D'aww," Bianca said sincerely.

"So, Bianca was it, what are you up to then?" Alani asked.

"I was just on my way back to my dorm when I saw you two, thought I might introduce myself," Bianca replied, "what about you two?"

"Yin and I were just about to go for a quick walk around the campus before we have to turn in, we've got some classical literature class early in the morning," Alani stated.

"Is it at seven thirty with Professor Belladonna?" Bianca asked.

"Yea, how did you know," replied Alani with a puzzled look on her face.

"Two of my teammates, my cousin Alyssa and her partner Lucas have the same class," Bianca stated.

"Maika'i loa!" Alani exclaimed lightly.

"Mai... what now?" Bianca asked in confusion.

"It means 'awesome' in her people's language," Yin stated.

"Ah, okay," Bianca said.

"Anyway, what do they look like so we can meet them," Alani asked.

"Alyssa is a blonde cat-faunus, hates mornings, and Lucas has a bit larger build than, and is little taller than Yin, very messy grey hair, you can't miss em," Bianca replied.

"Ok, anyway, it was nice meeting you Bianca, we'd introduce you to our teammates, but Eb is already asleep and Roy went to see his sister, we'll introduce our teams and hang out some other time, we'll be sure say hi to your cousin and her partner when we see them," Alani said as her and Yin headed off on their walk.

"It was nice meeting you too, and I'm looking forward to meeting your teammates," Bianca said as they walked away.

Alani turned back towards Bianca, raised her fist with her thumb and pinky extended and shook it a little, "Aloha," she said.

"Oh, uh… Aloha to you too," Bianca said back to her while waving and smiling.

Alani smiled back at Bianca and continued walking with her boyfriend.

Bianca headed up the hall a few feet to her dorm and entered it while taking a drink from her soda.

"So, what'd I miss?" she asked her teammates as she entered her room.

The remainder of the night, they discussed their weapons and abilities with each other, Cyrus and Lucas gave Bianca and Alyssa more details on their weapons and semblances and vice versa. Cyrus revealed his broadsword was named 'Caliburn' and Lucas informed them his katana and tanto combo was named 'Masamune'. After this, the girls told them about their weapons as well. Once they got passed weapons they explained their semblances, Cyrus could make barriers with his aura and Lucas' glyphs, which resembled his emblem, were mainly used for 'ability enhancements', like increasing speed, or jump height, he could also use them as platforms and to make constructs, although he needs dust for this last function. Bianca told the brothers of her speed, and Alyssa told them about her sensory projection, particularly the fact that it is always active and that she could enhance its affects by channeling her aura into it, something she demonstrated during their initiation. After they finished talking, they headed off to bed.

The next morning, Bianca awoke around the time that Lucas and Alyssa were finishing getting ready. They were both putting on the last bits of their school uniforms.

Lucas wore the standard male uniform which consisted of a black suit lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie, while Alyssa wore the standard female uniform, a red plaid skirt, and a brown jacket with a tan vest and white shirt with a red ribbon tied at the collar.

"This thing is a freaking neck trap," Lucas said as he adjusted his tie to wear it in a loose fashion.

"Good morning guys," Bianca said to the two of them as she sat up in her bunk.

"Morning," Lucas replied with a tired tone while trying to straighten his jacket.

Alyssa just grumbled at her cousin as she lazily buttoned her jacket and, she had dark bags under her eyes, her hair was messy and her cat ears had not yet perked up, her typical early morning look.

The two of them then headed off to their first class, leaving Bianca and Cyrus to chill for a little bit before they had to get ready for class.

Cyrus awoke and rolled over to the edge of his bed to talk to his partner.

"Good morning," he said with a heavy yawn, "…oh, sorry about that."

Bianca giggled softly at her partner, "It's fine," she said as she too yawned.

The two of them stopped for a moment and broke out into a light laugh.

Bianca pulled herself out of bed and proceeded to stretch and wake herself up, meanwhile Cyrus hopped down from the top bunk and did the same.

"Hey, you just wanna get ready now and go get some breakfast?" Cyrus asked.

"Sure, I could use something to eat," replied Bianca as her stomach grumbled lightly.

Bianca and Cyrus both went through their morning routines, ironing their uniforms, cleaning themselves up, and getting dressed, all the while being sure to give each other as much privacy as possible, which was kind of difficult in a coed dorm, but they and their teammates would have to learn to do so nonetheless.

Cyrus looked sharp in his uniform, it was perfectly ironed and straightened, it was a bit small though, not shmedium like, but it hugged his muscular build nonetheless.

Cyrus took note of his partner who was trying to decide whether she wanted to wear her hooded cloak with her uniform or not. The uniform didn't hug Bianca's petite figure as much as it hugged Cyrus' muscular build, but it suited her and he had to admit that she looked kind of cute in it. When this thought came to him, he blushed slightly.

"Hey Cyrus," Bianca called out.

"Huh, what's up," Cyrus said as he quickly cleared the blush from his face.

"What do you think, cloak or no cloak?" she asked as she held her cloak around her shoulders and then not.

"Hmm… I say… cloak," he responded.

"Okay," she replied and proceeded to fling it around herself and then fashion it on her right shoulder, the opposite shoulder her ponytail rested on, with her rose and snowflake shaped pin.

The way Bianca wore her cloak, made it look like a scarf around her neck, with a hood dangling behind it, the cloak also extended down to her ankles in the fashion of a cape like the one's heroes were said to have worn.

The two of them headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast after they finished getting ready for the day, they had about an hour before their first class started, so they had to be relatively quick.

The cafeteria was about half full when they got there, quite a few other students had the same idea as them. Despite there being a lot of people in the cafeteria, the line for the buffet wasn't very long.

All sorts of foods had been prepared by Beacon's talented chefs, trays of eggs, bacon, ham, pancakes, toast, potatoes, etc. you name the breakfast food, they have it, there were even tortillas for making burritos, all this food had been lain out for the students to choose from.

After getting their food, Cyrus and Bianca sat down at a table near the exit, so they could quickly leave if they found themselves late for class. As they sat down, Cyrus realized he had forgotten to get something to drink, so he set his tray down and headed over to a nearby vending machine. Bianca started to eat her breakfast as her partner did what he had to do.

"Hey there cutie," a woman's voice called out from directly behind Bianca, startling her and causing her to comically choke on her food.

"H…huh, what?" Bianca asked as she ceased choking, composed herself and turned to see a pair of eyes, one blue, the other green, gazing into her silver eyes.

The woman looked her up and down for a second, "you look good in that uniform," she said flirtatiously.

Bianca blushed slightly at this last comment, "Th… thank you," she said shyly.

Bianca then noticed the girl hitting on her was the dark-skinned girl who had been checking out her and her cousin at the Beacon docks, the first day they arrived, she was wearing Beacon's school uniform instead of the blue clothing had the other day, but she still wore the same style of sunglasses and bandana she had when Bianca first saw her. Her hair was arranged into dreadlocks and pulled back into a ponytail that hung down about a quarter of the way down her back.

The woman let out a light laugh at Bianca's shyness, "no need to be shy, I was only teasing you," she said with a smile.

"Hehe… funny," Bianca replied with a now slightly disgruntled tone.

"Oh, don't be like that baby… Look, I'm sorry if I upset you, the name's Ebony, Ebony Tacari," she said.

"I'm Bianca Rose, nice to meet you," Bianca said, seemingly accepting the woman's apology.

"You're the leader of Team BLAC right?" Ebony asked.

"Yeah, why?" Bianca inquired.

"My team leader, Alani, said she talked to you last night," Ebony stated.

"Oh, yeah, I ran into her and Yin in front of your guy's dorm, they seemed nice," Bianca said.

"They're two of the nicest people I've met here so far, but they can be a bit overly lovey-dovey on each other if you ask me," Ebony replied.

"Yeah, I got that much," stated Bianca with a light giggle.

Suddenly the two of them heard a large crash behind them, followed by two men's voices yelling at each other, Bianca recognized one was her partner Cyrus.

"Watch where you're going!" Cyrus shouted.

"Why don't you do the same!" The other man shouted back.

The two men stood up, it was then that Bianca noticed the man in the shouting match with her partner was the militaristically dressed boy she had seen on Beacon cliff yesterday, although today he was wearing Beacon's school uniform like the rest of the students. His hair was black, like Cyrus' and very neat overall, but slightly messy up front and his eyes were a very dark brown, almost black in color.

"Oh, not you again!" Both Cyrus and the man shouted at each other simultaneously.

Bianca and Ebony rushed over to the scene to try and deescalate the situation.

"Cyrus, what happened, how do you know this guy?" Bianca asked.

"This guy is the army brat Lucas and I almost got into a fight with two days ago!" Cyrus shouted while pointing at the man.

"Army Brat!? Who do you think you're calling army brat, you brute!" The man shouted back at Cyrus.

"Roy! What the hell man, calm down." Ebony stated as she rushed over to him.

"Brute!? Okay, you want a brute, I'll give you a brute!" Cyrus said as he cracked his knuckles.

Cyrus and Roy got into each other's faces as the two girls desperately attempted to keep them apart.

"That's enough!" Bianca exclaimed as she tripped both Cyrus and Roy, causing them to fall to the ground quite hard on top of each other.

"Nice," Ebony said to Bianca.

"Now! You two get up and apologize right now!" Bianca commanded.

"Ooh, she's feisty," Ebony said to herself.

Cyrus and Roy pulled themselves off each other and the ground and stood apart from one another, neither one wanting to be the first to apologize.

"Roy…" Ebony scolded.

"Fine, sorry for calling you a 'Brute'," Roy said halfheartedly to Cyrus.

"And I'm sorry for calling you an 'Army Brat'…" Cyrus said, "even though you are one," he continued under his breath.

"Cyrus!" Bianca shouted.

"Right, right, I'm sorry," Cyrus said halfheartedly.

"Now that that's out of the way, why don't we have a proper introduction," Ebony stated.

"Right, Cyrus, this is Ebony Tacari, she's from Team AYST. And Ebony, this is Cyrus, my partner," Bianca said.

"Cyrus Grey, it's nice to meet you Ebony," Cyrus said as he shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you too," Ebony replied as she looked him up and down flirtatiously.

"Bianca, Cyrus, this is my partner Roy Stallion, he can be a bit of a hot head most of the time," Ebony said as she introduced her partner.

"I'll say…" Cyrus said quietly.

"Hey! You wanna go, we can go right here!" Roy exclaimed.

"I'd be happy to!" Cyrus replied loudly.

The two of them quickly ceased their shouting match once more as they found themselves being given 'death stares' by their respective partners.

"Anyway… Roy Stallion, huh, you wouldn't happen to be related to the Roy Stallion from Vacuo, would you?" Bianca asked.

"No, I'm not, you don't know how much I get asked that," Roy replied.

"Oh, sorry then," Bianca said.

"It's fine," Roy said with an annoyed tone.

So, would you two like to join us for breakfast," Ebony asked.

"Sure, we'd love to," Bianca replied happily.

Her words gained disdainful looks from both Cyrus and Roy, but she ignored them and continued to accept the invitation from Ebony.

Bianca and Cyrus went and grabbed their plates and walked over to where Ebony and Roy had been sitting earlier. Cyrus went off to get something to drink as he had originally planned to do before quite literally running into Roy. When he returned, the four of them sat down together and enjoyed their breakfast, but during this time, Cyrus and Roy continued to glare at each other aggressively.

"Hey Ebony, what class do you and Roy have after this?" Bianca asked.

Ebony was taken a bit by surprise by the question as she had just taken a bit of the pancakes she was eating and had to finish chewing quickly before answering.

"We've got Dust Science and Application with Professor Peach, what about you," she replied after finishing her bite.

"Cyrus and I have Grimm Studies with Professor Coventina, we're meeting up with our teammates for that class." Bianca stated.

"How many classes do you have with your teammates?" Ebony asked.

"Three," Bianca relied.

"Lucky, Roy and I only have one class together with ours," Ebony stated.

"Which class is that?" Bianca inquired.

"Combat with Professor Haze," Ebony responded.

"Really? That's one of the classes my team has together, what time is yours?" Bianca asked.

"Let's see…" Ebony thought to herself for a moment, "I really don't remember… hey Roy, what time was our combat class again?" She asked.

"Three-thirty to five," he stated.

"Oh, sweet, our teams have that class together," Bianca said.

That is pretty cool," Ebony responded.

Cyrus and Roy groaned at this news, they would have to see each other every day for the rest of the year.

Cyrus stopped eating for a moment to check his scroll to make sure they weren't running late for class, after checking the time he tapped on his partner's shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey Bianca," Cyrus said.

"What's up?" she asked.

"We should really finish up here, its nine-ten, wouldn't want to be late to class now would we," he stated.

"Oh, right!" Bianca lightly exclaimed.

Bianca and Cyrus quickly finished their breakfast, said goodbye to Ebony and Roy, and headed off to their first class of the day.

"They were cool," Bianca said as her and Cyrus walked down the hallway of one of Beacon's lecture buildings.

"Ebony was, I can't say the same for that army brat," Cyrus replied.

"You know, you should try to forgive Roy, you two just got off on the wrong foot," Bianca stated.

Cyrus took a deep sighing breath, "maybe you're right, I'll try to talk to him the next time we meet," he said.

Bianca gave Cyrus a smile of approval as the two of them turned into their classroom, when they entered the doorway, they saw Alyssa and Lucas sitting in the front row. Lucas waving for them to come over and sit with them, while Alyssa looked a bit disgruntled by something.

Most of Beacon's academic classrooms were your typical lecture halls, four rows of seats arranged amphitheater style around a central floor and desk and separated by a central stairway they were similar to the combat classrooms in that respect. Rather than individual desks or "theater style" seats with fold out tables, the lecture halls in Beacon had long table like desks that stretched from one end of the seats to the other, giving each student plenty of room to work. The central desk was where the professor sat at or just placed their teaching supplies, behind it was a large chalk board and video screen.

Bianca and Cyrus took their seats next to their teammates and awaited the arrival of their professor. Like the rest of the class they started to talk amongst themselves.

"So, how was your first class?" Bianca asked both Alyssa and Lucas.

"Boring, nothing happened" Alyssa stated bluntly.

"I had a good time, I found the class interesting and entertaining," Lucas replied with a smirk.

"Anything memorable happen?" Cyrus inquired.

"I already said nothing happened and I don't wanna talk about it," Alyssa said with an annoyed tone.

"Alyssa fell asleep and got chewed out by Professor Belladonna in front of the whole class," Lucas said with a light laugh.

Upon hearing this information, Cyrus and Bianca started to laugh at Alyssa.

"Hey, my mom knows I'm not a morning person, what else did she expect," Alyssa shot back at her laughing teammates.

"Anyway," Lucas said, "Bianca, we ran into a couple of friends of yours," he continued.

"Oh, you two met Alani and Yin," she stated.

"Yea, they seemed cool," Alyssa cut in.

"Yea, they are, I ran into 'em the night before and found out they had the same morning class as you two and told 'em to say hi if they saw you guys…" Bianca stated.

The door to the classroom opened suddenly cutting off the conversations of the students. Professor Coventina then walked in carrying a stack of papers and folders under one of her arms. She had a dark complexion like Ebony, but not as much so, her hair was brown and arranged in a medium sized afro. She was almost as tall as Cyrus and possessed a similar figure to that of Alyssa, curvy, but with a bit of muscle. Her eyes were a vibrant blue color much like Lucas'. Her dark navy-blue blouse was long sleeved and slightly formfitting, over the top of it she wore a similarly colored corset and her cargo pants matched these as well. The only articles of clothing she wore that weren't dark navy-blue were her combat boots, fingerless gloves, and vambraces all of which were black.

"Welcome to Grimm Studies, my name Calypso Coventina, but you may call me either 'Professor', or 'Professor Coventina'," she said as she set down the papers and folders she was carrying.

She looked over the class for a moment, inspecting her students.

"Now, before we begin I have a couple of rules you should abide by while in my class, rule number one, I will not tolerate any nonsense in my class whatsoever…" she stated.

"She seems like a hard-ass," Alyssa whispered to Bianca.

Suddenly three throwing needles planted themselves in top of Alyssa and Bianca's desk, startling the two of them.

"That includes talking," Professor Coventina said while lowering her arm and focusing her gaze on Bianca and Alyssa, "as for rule number two… see rule number one," she continued.

Professor Coventina walked over to where Bianca and Alyssa were sitting and removed the needles from their desk, reloaded them into the vambraces on her forearms, and then walked back to the center of the room.

"Alright class, let's begin…"


	4. Class

Chapter Four: Class

Professor Coventina didn't cover much on the topic of Grimm Studies in that first class, it was mostly an introductory day, she liked to get to know her students and have them get to know each other. After these introductions were finished, Professor Coventina gave a relatively brief overview of what would be covered in her class, since it was Grimm Studies most of the topics were theory based.

Professor Coventina was finishing up her introductory lecture as the clock approached the time for class to end.

"The fields of science and technology have come a long way in the past one-hundred and four years since the end of the Great War," Professor Coventina said and then began to pace back and forth.

"Many inventions, such as the airships you arrived on, your first day here, the mechs and robotic soldiers that defend our kingdom's borders, scientists have even discovered a way for two women to have a child without the need for a donor father," Professor Coventina paused and looked around the class for a moment.

"I'm sure a few of you here are the result of that particular discovery… But, with all this innovation, scientists still have no idea about the origins or inner workings of the Grimm, and we still only have a vague understanding of their habits, what we know is that they typically live in groups, and occasionally groups of different Grimm species will congregate together and form a horde," she stated as the bell rang for class to get out.

Team BLAC were some of the first students out of the classroom once the class was over.

"That was easy," Cyrus said to his teammates as they exited the room.

"It's the first day, it's supposed to be easy," Lucas replied.

As they were walking down the hall to their next class, Alyssa grabbed Bianca's arm causing her to stop suddenly.

"Hey guy's, we'll catch up in a minute, I need to discuss something with B for a sec," Alyssa said to the brothers.

"Okay, see you guys in class then," Lucas replied.

"We'll save you two some seats," Cyrus stated.

As Cyrus and Lucas headed off to their next class, Alyssa pulled Bianca around a nearby corner to talk to her.

"What's up Alyssa?" Bianca asked.

Alyssa boosted her semblance slightly to check if Cyrus and Lucas were nearby eavesdropping on them, when she realized they weren't she lowered her semblance's levels back to normal.

"I think the boys are hiding something from us," Alyssa said quietly to her cousin.

"What do you mean?" Bianca asked with a bewildered tone.

"Last night when we were talking, something about them… Cyrus especially, seemed a bit off when he was talking about their parents," Alyssa said.

"They seemed pretty sincere to me, I think you're just a bit confused," Bianca replied.

"No, think about it. They wouldn't tell us the name of their village and when you asked about both their parents being hunters, that laugh and 'yea' Cyrus gave off showed a bit of nervousness in it, you may not have been able to notice it, but I could," Alyssa stated.

"I don't know… Alyssa, I think you're just confusing grief for lying, after all they did say they lost both their parents, and unless you sensed that that was a lie, I don't think they're hiding anything." Bianca said.

"They weren't lying about their parents dying, that I could easily tell was the truth, bu…" Alyssa said but was cut off.

Bianca raised her hand to Alyssa for her to stop speaking, "then I don't want hear anymore of your accusations, you had a long day yesterday and were obviously just confused."

"…Whatever, but if they are hiding something, it'll come to light eventually," Alyssa replied in annoyance.

After their conversation, Alyssa and Bianca headed to their next class and to meet up with their teammates. The whole way there, the two of them didn't speak, Alyssa was a bit put off that her cousin wouldn't believe her word, and Bianca was a little angry at Alyssa for accusing their teammates of lying to them.

As they neared their next class Bianca began to ponder her cousin's accusation of their partners. 'Something did seem a bit off about them, maybe they were lying… no, they were just reliving a tough time in their lives, they wouldn't lie to us,' she thought to herself.

The whole way to class Bianca kept thinking to herself, trying to reassure herself that Cyrus and Lucas wouldn't lie to her and Alyssa. She had mostly convinced herself that they were being truthful, but it kept eating at the back of her mind and she would rather not think about it.

Alyssa and Bianca arrived at their next class, their teammates were sitting in the second row from the front. Cyrus was playing on his scroll, while Lucas was leaning back in his chair with his feet kicked up on the desk and his hands positioned behind his head. The two girls walked up to their partners and took their seats next to them.

The classroom they entered resembled the one they had just left, with one notable exception, in place of the chalk board was a large and very detailed map of remnant. It outlined the boarders of the Four Kingdoms and Menagerie, along with other large settlements outside the major nations, like the Southern Isle Chiefdoms off the south-western coast of Sanus. Another thing about this classroom was there was a large great-sword hanging on the wall, next to the world map of Remnant, it was noticeably larger than the ones used by the huntsmen, Sage Ayana and Yatsuhashi Daichi.

Cyrus put away his phone once Alyssa and Bianca sat down and turned to talk to them, "so what'd you two need to talk about?" He asked.

"Oh, you know, just girl stuff," Alyssa replied.

"Y... yeah, girl stuff," Bianca said nervously.

"Uh huh…" Cyrus replied skeptically.

Team BLAC along with a few other students had arrived at their class a bit early so they spent the time they had either relaxing or talking amongst themselves as they waited for their professor to arrive, more students continued to arrive in the class as they waited.

Whilst more students were entering the classroom, Alyssa's cat ears perked up like she was sensing something or someone she recognized, she soon realized who this presence was and the look on her face turned sour and her cat ears dropped in disappointment.

Walking through the door to the classroom was Scarlet Winchester, the fourth-year student she almost fought two days ago.

"Her Scar, wait up!" A woman's voice called from behind her.

"Why don't you catch up," Scarlet replied bluntly.

The woman who had called out for Scarlet then entered the room. She had short and straight blonde hair that hugged the contours of her face, shiny blue eyes, a fair complexion, and a petite figure. She was a few inches shorter than scarlet, so around the same height as Alyssa.

"You know, that's no way to talk to your partner, let alone your team leader," the woman said.

"Whatever Yaara…" Scarlet said, her voice then trailed off.

Scarlet looked to the students in the class, in the second row she noticed Alyssa and Bianca. When she saw them, she got a mischievous look on her face.

Scarlet and Yaara began to head towards their seats.

As they approached the seats, Alyssa got a fearful look on her face, 'don't sit near us, don't sit near us,' she thought to herself.

Scarlet and Yaara took their seats right behind the members of Team BLAC, Scarlet made sure to sit directly behind Alyssa, much to her annoyance.

Cyrus noticed the annoyed look on Alyssa's face, "Alyssa, you ok?" He asked.

Alyssa lightly shook her head and then motioned it towards Scarlet.

Bianca noticed her teammate's actions and turned to see who or what Alyssa was motioning to, she hadn't seen Scarlet walk into the classroom because she had her back turned towards the door she walked in from. When Bianca saw Scarlet, she got a nervous look on her face, she was worried if they would have another incident like the one two days ago.

Bianca turned to Cyrus and whispered to him, "that's the fourth-year Alyssa almost got into a fight with."

Cyrus took a quick glance at the two women sitting behind his teammates and then looked back to his partner.

"Which one, the blonde or the red-head?" He asked quietly.

"The red-head," Bianca replied in a whispered tone.

Cyrus then noticed the nervous look on Bianca's face and the annoyed look on Alyssa's, "don't worry, if anything happens, Lucas and I have your backs," he said.

The three of them then looked towards Lucas who had been leaning back in his chair, seemingly not paying attention, but when they looked at him, he gave them a reassuring nod, confirming his brother's promise.

The time for class to start was growing closer and closer, but the professor hadn't shown up yet. Some of the students hadn't noticed, and were still just chatting amongst themselves, while others were confused and wondering where their professor was at, normally they'd be in the classroom a few minutes early, but it was now five minutes past the class start time.

Another ten minutes passed and a few of the students had begun to pack up their school materials and began to head for the door.

Suddenly one of the doors to the classroom burst open, a man with was keeled over breathing heavily in the now open door.

The man had golden crew cut hair and a somewhat thick chinstrap beard to match, skin that was the color of sand, and was wearing a black and white three-piece suit. His suit lacked the jacket and tie, and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off his forearms, his right arm was robotic, and his left arm had a very ornate Calavera Skull tattooed on the inside of the forearm. He was a couple of inches taller than Cyrus and possessed a similar, yet slightly larger build to him.

"¡Maldita Sea! S… sorry I'm late class…" he said as he tried to catch his breath, "I was talking with Professor Oobleck…" he continued to try and catch his breath, "and we… we lost track of the time."

"It's Doctor Oobleck!" A voice shouted from down the hall, startling some of the students in the room.

The man stood and composed himself, when he did so, his eyes were closed, the top left corner of his face was separated from the rest by a large scar that ran from the center of his hairline to the center of his left jaw. When his eyes opened, it was revealed that he had a cybernetic one. His right eye was normal, and dark gray in color, but his left eye glowed bright red.

"Anyway, welcome to History of Remnant, my name is Adrián Arenas, you may refer to me as Professor or Professor Arenas," he said as he walked over to the desk in the center of the room.

When he reached the desk, he took his seat behind it, intertwined his fingers, and stared out at his students whom were waiting for him to speak.

"Without using the words 'history' or 'historian' can any of you tell me the definition of history?" He asked the class.

Yaara raised her hand to answer the question.

"Ah, yes, Ms. Stallion, can you tell us the answer?" Professor Arenas asked.

"The study of the past," she said.

"That's a good one," he stated, "anyone else?"

Nobody else attempted to answer the question, much to the disappointment of Professor Arenas. He then stood from his seat and began pacing back and forth in front of the desk.

While he continued to pace, he began to speak, "there are many definitions for history, but I prefer this one; It is everything that has occurred or been thought from the beginning of time to the last elapsed moment."

Cyrus raised his hand to ask Professor Arenas a question.

"Yes, what is your name student and what do you have to say?" Professor Arenas asked.

"Name's Cyrus Grey, and I wanted to know, what does history have to do with killing Grimm?" Cyrus asked.

"Good question Mr. Grey, have you ever heard the term 'history repeats itself'?" Professor Arenas asked.

"Yea…" Cyrus said, but his voice trailed off slightly.

"It may not have much to do with improving your skills in physically fighting the Grimm, but it will help you choose your battles, so you don't make the same mistakes those in the past have made…" he said this as he looked down at his robotic arm and clenched it's fist lightly, "if you don't learn from the past, you're doomed to repeat it," he said somberly.

Cyrus nodded his head, accepting this answer from his Professor.

The rest of class was a brief introduction of the course, followed by a short lecture. Professor Arenas touched on the origins of man and the faunus, from the 'myth' of the two brothers, to their early conflicts with the Grimm. After briefly discussing their origins, he began to lecture on the first recorded civilization on Remnant. This early civilization was located on the western coast of Anima and flourished around five thousand years ago, its name has been lost to history and is just referred to as 'Civilization A' by those in the field of history. One interesting thing he said about this civilization is that settlements of similar style were found on the eastern coast of Sanus, possibly hinting at the fact they once colonized the area. However, a few hundred years into its existence, 'Civilization A' just disappeared, and no one knows why, a couple of theories are a huge spike in Grimm attacks, or a deadly civil war, as there were no other known civilizations at the time.

Once Professor Arenas finished his lecture he dismissed the students. Team BLAC were once again among the first out of the class, but Scarlet pursued them, once they were out of the room, she made her move.

"Hey Blondie!" Scarlet called out.

Alyssa turned to her, "oh my god, what do you want now?!" She asked in annoyance.

"We've got some unfinished business to settle," Scarlet replied while cracking her knuckles.

Lucas stepped between the two girls, "leave, now," he said sternly.

"This doesn't concern you, now get out of the way," Scarlet commanded.

"Scarlet stop this now!" Yaara yelled from behind her.

Scarlet ignored her and proceeded to throw a punch at Lucas' head.

Lucas quickly side stepped the punch and grabbed Scarlet's wrist and bicep.

Using her arm as a lever, his back as a pivot point and the moment of her punch, Lucas flung Scarlet over his shoulder and slammed her to the ground with quite a lot of force.

The wind shot from Scarlet's lungs as she hit the ground wide eyed and surprised at what had just happened to her.

Lucas was about to go for an incapacitating punch to Scarlet's face, but Yaara stepped between he and her.

"That's enough," Yaara said commandingly.

Lucas looked up from Scarlet to see Professor Arenas watching the whole scene, he just looked at Lucas and walked away, he wasn't about to punish a student for defending his teammate, or punish another more than they already had been.

"Come on guys, let's get out of here," Lucas said to his teammates.

"Thanks Luc, but I could've taken her," Alyssa said to her partner.

"No problem… by the way, why have you been calling me 'Luc'?" He asked.

"It's your new nickname," Alyssa replied.

"Okay…" Lucas said.

"Do I get a nickname?" Cyrus asked.

Alyssa thought to herself for a moment, "Nope," she replied.

"Oh… hey Bianca, you got a nickname for me?" Cyrus asked.

"N… no, I kinda just like calling you 'Cyrus', besides I was never good at coming up with nicknames, that was always Alyssa's thing," Bianca replied with a slight blush.

Cyrus' shoulders and head drooped in a bit of disappointment.

Team BLAC walked together for a time, until they came upon a stairwell, leading to the second story of the lecture building. Bianca and Cyrus said goodbye to Alyssa and Lucas and headed off to their Classical Literature Class, meanwhile Alyssa and Lucas headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

Alyssa and Lucas sat down to eat their lunch. Lucas got a burger with a side of fries, while Alyssa got a mixed bowl of chicken chow mein and fried rice.

"So, you wanna do anything after were done here?" Alyssa asked Lucas.

"Nothing in particular, why?" Lucas replied.

"I just wanted to head over to the CCT and make a quick call," Alyssa said.

"Ok, I'll follow you," Lucas replied.

Once the pair was finished eating they headed off to the CCT so Alyssa could make her call. Along the way, Lucas looked at his scroll, they had about forty-five minutes till class started, plenty of time to do this and then head to class.

They arrived at the CCT and entered the building. On the inside were several students using the terminals on the central pillar, and several others were slowly making their way out of the building.

Lucas and Alyssa entered the elevator in the back of the room and a voice greeted them.

"Hello, welcome to the CCT, how may I help you?" The voice asked.

"We'd like to head up to the communications room," Alyssa replied.

"Absolutely, could you please place your scroll on the terminal to verify your identity," the voice asked.

Both Alyssa and Lucas pulled out their scrolls and held them up to the terminal, which proceeded to scan both.

"Thank you, Ms. Xiao Long, and Mr. Grey," the voice said.

Alyssa and Lucas rode the elevator up to the communications room which was located a couple of floors below the headmaster's office. When they exited the elevator, they were greeted by an empty desk which was quickly filled by the CCT A.I. It was modelled after a young woman and had on a business suit.

"Welcome to the Cross-Continental Transmit Center, how may I help you," the A.I. said, it had the same voice as the one in the elevator.

"I'd like to make a call to Yang Xiao Long, I believe she is currently in Vacuo on a hunt," Alyssa stated.

"Absolutely, if you could head over to terminal seven I'll patch you through," The A.I said.

"Thank you," Alyssa replied as she began to head towards the terminal.

"I'm with her," Lucas told the A.I as he followed his partner.

Alyssa sat down at the assigned terminal and Lucas stood behind her as the call went through. After a few moments, the screen activated and revealed Yang on the other side of the call, she had on what looked like her 'huntress' outfit, but Alyssa and Lucas could only see her shoulders and upper chest. She looked like she was in a tavern somewhere in Vacuo.

"Hey baby, what's up?" Yang asked.

"Nothing mom, just wanted to call and say hi," Alyssa replied.

"Oh, ok, well it's good to see you again, so tell me, who's the scruffy lookin' guy behind you," Yang said.

"This is Lucas, my partner, I call him 'Luc', were on a team together with B and his brother Cyrus," Alyssa replied.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Xiao Long," Lucas said as he leaned closer to the screen so Yang could see him better.

Yang paused for a moment and began inspecting Lucas' face, "hey, you're one of the guys who almost knocked me over at the Vale docks the other day," she said.

Alyssa looked at Lucas with slight confusion and concern.

"Oh yea, sorry about that," Lucas said apologetically.

"Oh, it's no big deal…" Yang said lightly, "just don't do it again," she said in a sterner voice, her lilac eyes began to turn red.

Lucas froze up slightly, he knew about Yang, as she was a famous huntress, he knew that if someone got on her bad side, it wouldn't end pretty for them.

Yang began to laugh a bit, "I had you going there didn't I," she said between laughs.

"Seriously mom," Alyssa said with a slightly annoyed tone.

Lucas took a breath, the concern and stiffness running through his body subsided.

Alyssa and Lucas could hear the door of the tavern Yang was in open.

Yang looked to someone off screen, "what's that?… Oh, okay," she said, responding to some mumbled speech in the background.

Yang looked back to the screen as she put on her aviator sunglasses, "hey baby, I gotta go, duty calls," she said.

"Ok, talk to you later," Alyssa said with a smile.

The screen went blank as both parties hung up the call.

"So, that was the famous Yang Xiao Long," Lucas stated as Alyssa got up from the terminal.

"Yup, that's my mom, I'm just happy we got spared from her infamous puns," Alyssa said.

"You know, if it wasn't for the white eyes and cat ears, I'd probably struggle to tell you two apart," Lucas stated.

"What are you saying… I look like I'm forty," Alyssa said sharply and her eyes began to turn red.

"No… uh, I was just…" Lucas was flustered at his partner's sudden anger.

Alyssa then began to laugh heartily and her eyes faded back to white, "I was just playing with you, come on, let's get to class," Alyssa said after composing herself from her laughter.

Lucas just stood there dumbstruck for a moment, he was just staring at his partner as she walked over to the elevator.

Alyssa turned to Lucas when she reached the elevator, "you coming?" she asked.

Lucas shook himself out of his daze, "like mother, like daughter," he said with a light laugh as he jogged over to his partner.

Alyssa and Lucas arrived at the training halls and quickly made their way to the locker room where they called in their RPLs for their gear. The new models of RPLs had landing sequences programmed in them so they wouldn't just crash in the ground and cause unwanted damage, they would land quickly and softly, however in a pinch, the landing sequence could be disabled for a quicker arrival.

They quickly got changed into their combat outfits, Alyssa with her formfitting black shirt and pants, along with her flowing golden tail-coat and Lucas with his gray track jacket, white t-shirt, blue jeans, and gray canvas shoes. After getting dressed they threw on their weapons, Shadow Celica and Hidden Flame, and Masamune and headed for the classroom.

Inside the classroom were their teammates who were sitting by the members of Team AYST, along with many other students, all of them were in their combat outfits. Bianca in her red corset, combat skirt, and laced boots along with her black leggings that extended three-quarters of the way up her thighs, her white blouse, and of course her trademark white hooded cloak. Cyrus was in his white collared shirt, with his breast plate over the top of it, and his dark gray pants and armored combat boots, he wasn't wearing his trench coat though, it was off and hanging on the back of his seat. Alani was in her orange tank top and matching slanted lavalava skirt, along with her black spandex pants and brown kukui nut lei. Yin had on his white changshan and black slacks with matching shoes. Roy had on his silver-blue imitation of an Atlesian military dress uniform, complete with military tail-coat, it was accented by his white belt and black patent leather dress boots. Ebony wore her unbuttoned blue suit vest over top a tie-dye shirt of various shades of blue, along with her navy blue skinny jeans and royal blue skate shoes, her sunglasses were positioned up on her forehead over her blue bandanna headband.

"Hey guys," Bianca called out as she saw Alyssa and Lucas enter the room.

Alyssa and Lucas headed over to sat with their teammates and the members of Team AYST.

"Ugh… we have a class with the army brat," Lucas complained.

"Hey, chill bro, the army brat is actually kind cool," Cyrus stated.

"Could you please stop calling me that," Roy stated with a slightly annoyed tone.

"Hey, you boys play nice now," Ebony stated.

"Anyway, Lucas, your brother and I were reconciling for what happened between us, and I wanted to offer the same apology I did him," Roy said as he held out his hand to shake Lucas'.

Lucas crossed his arms and got a skeptical look on his face "mhmm," was all he said.

"Come on bro, don't be like that," Cyrus said.

"Whatever, fine… apology accepted," Lucas said as he begrudgingly shook Roy's hand.

"And…" Cyrus said.

"And I'm sorry for calling you an 'army brat'," Lucas halfheartedly.

Their professor then entered the room. Her eyes were clenched shut and she was messaging her temple like she had a headache.

She didn't look much older than the fourth-year students here at Beacon, while Professors Coventina and Arenas looked to be in their early thirties, this professor looked like she was in her early or mid-twenties. She had short reddish brown hair and lightly tanned skin. She had on a formfitting sleeveless maroon changshan shirt, slate gray arm sleeves with slack pants and slip on shoes to match. Her figure was thin, but not petite, and semi-muscular. She looked to be as tall as Lucas. Strapped to her hip was a metal calabash drinking gourd.

"Ugh… sorry class, I've got a bit of a hangover, today, I'll keep this brief," she said.

She then slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the light of the room, when she did so she revealed her eyes to be Amber colored, much like Blake's.

"My name is Ember Haze… call me either Professor or Professor Haze, hell, call me Ember… I really don't care for formalities," she said.

The students began to look around at each other with skeptical looks, this couldn't really be their combat professor, this had to be some fourth-year pulling a prank on them.

Roy stood from his seat to ask the supposed professor a question.

"Are you really our combat instructor?" He asked.

"Yup," Ember replied confidently, yet still in a bit of pain from the hangover.

Roy still had the skeptical look on his face as he sat down, not really accepting her answer.

"I assure you this woman is indeed your combat instructor," a voice called from behind the students.

The students turned to see the acting headmaster, Lie Ren standing in the entrance of the classroom.

"She may be a bit unorthodox, but she's one of our best," Ren said with a reassuring tone.

"Ah, Professor Ren, what may I ask are you doing here?" Professor Haze asked.

"Just dropping in, thought I might catch a match or two since I have a bit of a break at the moment," he replied.

"Well, you're welcome to stay and watch… Alright, now that that's out of the way, why don't we cut to the chase," Professor Haze said.

Ren didn't enter the room to sit, he just leaned against the frame of the opened door he was standing in.

Professor Haze walked over to a small terminal on the wall of the combat stage and hit a button on it, when she did this a screen popped up on the back wall, the screen then began to cycle through the student's pictures before it finally landed on Roy and Bianca's pictures.

"Alright, first match of the year, Roy Stallion and Bianca Rose," Professor Haze announced.

Bianca and Roy stood from their seats and made their way to a small lift that would bring them down to the combat stage. The two took their positions at opposite ends of the stage and readied themselves, Bianca drew her sabers, Summer and Winter, while Roy tightened his gloves, Vulcan, and secured his saber, Ares, on left his side.

"Okay, here are the rules, anything goes, use all of your abilities and weapons if necessary, when your opponent's aura hits the red zone, the fight is over, got it," Professor Haze stated.

Both Roy and Bianca nodded in agreement.

As Professor Haze was about to start the fight, Roy pressed his hands together in a praying fashion and the seams of Vulcan began to glow light blue and the entirety of his hands became covered in ice.

Professor Haze signaled the start of the match and quickly vacated the stage.

Roy began to fire bullets of ice at Bianca from his ice-covered gloves, they shot from his hands almost as fast as bullets fired by a machine gun.

Bianca quickly dodged the incoming fire with her semblance and shot out a couple of blades of fire and ice dust at Roy, whom took the hits, but stood his ground.

Roy then covered his hands in Ice once again, but this time her shot the entire fist worth's of ice from both his hands.

Bianca knocked the first one away with a parry from Summer, but was hit in the stomach by the second.

Bianca then charged Roy with her semblance, as she did this he placed both his hands near his side and built up a ball of wind, which he then shot at Bianca, pushing her back.

The flurry of wind was incredibly strong, like that of a tornado.

Bianca stabbed one of her sabers into the ground to keep herself from being knocked back any further.

When the flurry of wind stopped, Bianca heard the sound of fingers snapping, when she looked up, Roy's fists were set aflame and he was about to plunge down on her and deliver a thunderous strike.

Bianca dodged Roy's strike, causing him to punch the ground and leave a scorch mark where he had hit.

Roy then shot fireballs from his hands, but they all missed as Bianca used her semblance to dodge them.

Bianca charged Roy once again, dodging more of his fireballs along the way.

She got in close and prepared to strike him with her sabers as Roy reached for Ares.

Time began to slow for Roy as he drew his saber and parried the first of Bianca's strikes.

The two began to exchange blows, however, not equally, Roy was somehow dodging or parrying most of Bianca's lighting fast strikes.

"How the hell is he keeping up with her?" Alyssa asked in astonishment.

"It's his semblance, it's called 'Focus', it slows his perception of time, so he can anticipate, and react to Bianca's strikes, effectively taking away her speed advantage," Ebony replied.

"Oh crap…" Alyssa said, still in astonishment.

Bianca's strikes began to grow slower as she began to tire, both her and Roy's auras were nearing the red zone, the next few strikes would decide the match.

Bianca took a few unwanted hits from Roy's saber, sending her dangerously close to the red zone, using her semblance her shot backwards to get away, but she tripped over her own heal.

Seeing his opportunity, Roy reared back and lunged forward for the final blow, he struck Bianca in the center of the chest with a powerful thrust from Ares, knocking her to the ground and sending her aura into the red zone.

"That's it, that's the match, the winner is Roy Stallion," Professor Haze announced as she walked to the center of the stage.

"CHEE-HOO! You go Roy!" Alani shouted.

Roy walked over to Bianca and helped her up, "you fight good," he said.

"Thanks, you too," Bianca replied.

"Okay, let's see who the next match will be," Professor Haze said.

Roy and Bianca took their seats among their teammates, Roy's were congratulating him, while Bianca's were telling her it was all good even though she lost.

Despite her teammate's reassurances, Bianca looked to be beating herself up mentally for the loss, she made a rookie mistake and literally tripped up, costing her the match.

The pictures on the screen which had been cycling, stopped on Alyssa and Yin's pictures, they would be the next match of the day.

"Alyssa Xiao Long and Yin Okami, you're next up," Professor Haze said.

As Bianca and Roy did, Alyssa and Yin made their way to the combat stage.

"Alright, you two understand the rules, right?" Professor Haze asked.

Both Alyssa and Yin nodded to her.

As Professor Haze was about to start the fight Yin placed his right fist into his left palm and bowed to Alyssa.

Alyssa returned a two-finger salute to Yin and then activated Shadow Celica and got into her combat stance.

Yin made himself ready to draw the revolvers on his hips.

Professor Haze signaled the start of the match and cleared the stage.

Alyssa fired off a volley of dust rounds from Shadow Celica at Yin, whom quickly dodged.

After he dodged Alyssa's shots, Yin quickdrew one of his revolvers, Chaos, a black revolver with a white handle and hammer, from his right hip.

He quickly fanned the hammer, firing a storm of dust rounds in the direction of Alyssa, as she dodged the volley, Yin drew his second revolver, Order, a white revolver with a black handle and hammer.

After drawing his second weapon, he opened fire on Alyssa again, this time with both revolvers.

Alyssa returned fire at Yin and the rounds from both their weapons collided in the air between them.

Both Alyssa and Yin then charged each other.

Yin shifted his revolvers into their second form, a pair of long daggers, a pair of blades shot forward from the under barrel of his weapons and the handles straightened out to form the grips.

The two engaged in melee, blocking, trading, and parrying each other's blows, lowering their auras in the process.

Alyssa caught Yin with a powerful roundhouse kick, that was accelerated by a shot fired form Hidden Flame, knocking Yin back and dropping his aura into the yellow.

Yin composed himself and readied for another attack.

"I sense much conflict within you," he said as he quickly shut and opened his eyes, his green eyes having turned into Taos.

He looked directly into Alyssa's eyes which had begun to fade from white to red.

Alyssa charged Yin and nearly hit him, which caught him by surprise, as he dodged he noticed Alyssa's eyes had turned red, indicating her semblance was on overdrive.

Yin charged in at Alyssa and hit her with a few well-placed strikes that put her on the ropes.

When he charged in again to try and end the match, Alyssa sensed the strike he was about to throw before he threw it, a slash to her right.

Alyssa blocked the strike and then hit Yin with a thunderous uppercut, sending his Aura into the red zone.

"And that's the match, Alyssa Xiao Long wins," Professor Haze announced.

Yin pulled himself from the ground and walked over to Alyssa.

"How were you not affected by my semblance? I looked you straight in the eyes," He stated.

"I'm blind, I couldn't see your eyes, I guess that's why," Alyssa replied.

"You are blind!?" Yin said in a surprised tone as Alyssa began walking back to the lift.

After the matches concluded, Professor Ren left the room, presumably to go do more work… the life of a headmaster, either interim or not, was always busy.

As Alyssa and Yin took their seats among their teammates, Professor Haze began to address the class.

"That's pretty much it, for the rest of the year we'll be doing exactly this, maybe a lecture or two here and there," she said.

Professor Haze walked over to the lift and took it up to where the students were sitting and continued to speak.

"This class is pretty simple, for those of you that attended a combat school you already know what to expect from this class, it's really no different," she said.

She looked around at the students in her class for a moment and then at a clock on the wall, which showed the time as four-fifteen.

"I'm gonna dismiss class early today, you're all free to go," she announced.

Her students looked around at each other, some were happy at this news, others were a bit surprised, but in the end, they left class and went on with their day.

Teams BLAC and AYST walked out the classroom together, they were some of the first students to leave. They began to talk amongst themselves as they walked down the hall to the locker room.

"Hey Yin, you said I wasn't affected by your semblance, what exactly is your semblance?" Alyssa asked.

"It is called 'Harmony and Discord', it grants my allies good fortune in battle and curses my opponents bad fortune, considering I must make eye contact for it to work though, so it must not work on people with your particular aliment," Yin replied.

After changing back into their school uniforms, Teams BLAC and AYST decided to look for a place to hang out for the rest of the day before they had to head back to their dorms for curfew. As they were leaving the building they were greeted by the sight of Yaara waiting for them outside.

"Hey sis, this is a pleasant surprise," Roy said.

"Wait just a second… Yaara is your sister!?" Bianca said in disbelief.

"Yeah," Roy said.

"You seriously didn't know? They have the same last name," Ebony stated.

"Anyway… hey lil' bro, sorry, but I'm not here for you, I'm here for… you two," Yaara stated and then pointed at Lucas and Alyssa.

"What do you want with my teammates?" Cyrus asked intimidatingly as he stepped between Yaara and them.

"Relax, I just want to talk to them… besides, if we were to fight I'd win in a heartbeat," Yaara said.

"Oh really, care to test th…" Cyrus said, but was cut off.

"Trust me, you don't wanna do that," Roy said as he placed his hand on Cyrus' shoulder.

"So, what did you want to talk to us about?" Lucas asked.

"As the leader of Team SSGE (Sage), I wanted to apologize for my partner's actions earlier today," Yaara stated.

"Well, we accept your apology, but I don't think we can forgive your partner," Alyssa stated.

"That's fine, just… just know that Scarlet is a good person, she's just going through some difficult times right now, she won't tell me or the team what it is though," Yaara said softly, "Anyway, I won't take up any more of your time," Yaara continued and then gave teams BLAC and AYST a wave as she walked off.

Teams BLAC and AYST headed off to hang out as they had planned before being stopped by Yaara, they found a cool spot under a tree in one of Beacon's many small parks. Their year was just getting started, little did they know however, they would get more than they bargained for in their first year at Beacon Academy.


	5. Out on the town

Chapter Five: Out on the town

2 years ago…

The rhythmic sound of a heart monitor could be heard throughout a makeshift hospital, it was monitoring the heartbeat of the hospital's only patient, a man whose body was broken and has been in a coma for quite a long time.

The man was floating in some type of liquid in a tank that kept him just on the edge of life and death, his arms were mostly gone, along with all his lower body and most of his chest.

All of a sudden, his heartbeat began to slow until it eventual began to flatline. An elderly man dressed in doctor's garb rushed into the room when this occurred.

He worked frantically to stabilize his patient, but it wasn't going well.

"Rouge! Get in here and help me!" The elderly man shouted.

A young woman with an athletic figure ran into the room, she was wearing a similar outfit to the elderly man. She had tanned skin, raven black hair arranged into a mohawk, and eyes as red as rubies.

"Yes, Doctor, what do you need?" She asked.

"We need to restart the patient's heart, hit him with an electric shock," the man said.

The woman ran over to a console as the elderly man did the same, together they both pulled a pair of levers, sending an electric shock to the patient's heart.

While they were working, another woman was standing in the doorway, she was significantly shorter than Rouge. She had a concerned look on her face and clutched her pink and brown hair tightly in her hands, hoping the two people could help her friend, the man in the tank.

After shocking the man a few times, his heartbeat returned to normal and the three people in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

The man in the tank's eyes began to open, he slowly looked around the room, before stopping on the small girl in the doorway. After looking at her for a moment he fell back out of consciousness, but his vitals remained normal.

Present day…

A few weeks had passed since the first day of class for Teams BLAC and AYST. Cyrus and Lucas were getting along with Roy, the latter two of the three had developed a healthy rivalry in combat class. There hadn't been many major incidents with Scarlet since her 'fight' with Lucas, in fact she and her partner Yaara didn't even sit near Team BLAC in their History of Remnant class anymore, probably due to Yaara forcing Scarlet to sit further away from them to avoid any incidents. Scarlet would still bully may of the other students in the school and whenever they passed by each other, Scarlet and Alyssa would shoot one another aggressive looks full of anger and hate. Some of these looks almost caused fights between the two, but they were quickly broken up by their teammates. However, one incident was about to blow up in their faces.

Team BLAC was in the middle of their history class when it happened. Professor Arenas was giving a lecture on the Warriors of the Southern Isles, some of the first people to drive off the Grimm and found a successful civilization, although not a unified one.

"The five chiefdoms of the Southern Isles were founded in the year 1000 Before Vital Era, after the five Great Chiefs drove the last of the Grimm from the islands, can anyone here tell me the names of each of the Great Chiefs?" Professor Arenas asked the class.

Cyrus raised his hand to answer the question posed by his professor.

"Yes, Mr. Grey, what is the answer?" Professor Arenas said.

"The names of the Great Chiefs are, Kamehameha the Strong, Kalakaua the Brave, Keoua the Wise, Kalaimamahu the Furious, and Liliuokalani the Fair," Cyrus said.

"Very good Mr. Grey, and your pronunciation is spot on, most people have trouble with that," Professor Arenas stated.

Cyrus had remembered Alani telling him how to properly pronounce the names of the islands when she and Yin told their team and his about the Southern Isles, on which both were raised, however Yin was initially born in Mistral, his family had moved their when he was very young.

"Each of the five islands get their names from one of these Great Chiefs, however after they drove off the Grimm the Great Chiefs began to squabble amongst one another, particularly after the death of Keoua the Wise, and they never became a kingdom like Vale, Vacuo, Atlas, and Mistral…" Professor Arenas continued.

As Professor Arenas continued his lecture, Alyssa had begun to dose in and out of sleep, as she doesn't have very much interest in history.

As Alyssa was dosing off, Scarlet began balling up some paper around a rock, she had a mischievous look on her face. When Professor Arenas turned his back to point something out on the large world map, she made her move and chucked the paper covered rock at Alyssa.

The rock hit Alyssa in the back of the head and caused her to smack her face on the desk in front of her.

"Ah, what the fuck!" She shouted in pain and clutched the back of her head.

"¡Oye! Ms. Xiao Long, watch your language," Professor Arenas yelled as he turned around.

Alyssa looked back in the direction of where the rock was thrown to see Scarlet chuckling to herself, her partner Yaara was scolding her, but she didn't care.

"Hey, can I borrow this for a second," Alyssa asked Bianca as she grabbed her rather thick and heavy history book.

"What for?" Bianca asked suspiciously.

"No reason," Alyssa said and then swiped Bianca's book.

Alyssa then stood from her seat as Professor Arenas turned back around, and proceeded to walk up the stairs to where Scarlet was sitting.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Alyssa asked Scarlet.

"I don't have anything to say to you," Scarlet said smugly.

"I was just gonna ask you're doing in the class," Alyssa said kindly.

"Um… Ok… I'm doing ok I guess, could be a little better though," Scarlet said with a confused tone.

"Oh, well… allow me to lay a little bit of knowledge on ya," Alyssa said as a mischievous smile came to her face.

Alyssa then backhanded Scarlet with the history book she was holding, causing her fall backwards out of her chair and break it.

Alyssa then attempted to pounce on her, but Scarlet kicked her away when she got close.

"¡Oye pendejas! Stop that this instant!" Professor Arenas shouted as he ran up the stairs to break up the fight, the remaining members of Team BLAC following him as he did so.

When they had reached the two fighting girls, their fight had devolved into a scrap on the ground and Yaara was already trying to separate them.

With the help of Professor Arenas and Team BLAC, Yaara managed to separate Alyssa and Scarlet.

"You two are coming with me to Professor Ren's office," Professor Arenas said authoritatively.

As he escorted Alyssa and Scarlet out of the class, he turned to the rest of the students, "class, please read pages one-thirty-three through one-fifty-six till I return."

"I guess It's my turn to apologize," Bianca said to Yaara.

Yaara didn't look mad, she just placed her hand on Bianca's shoulder, an understanding look was on her face.

Professor Arenas left Scarlet and Alyssa with Professor Ren in his office. Professor Ren was visibly frustrated with the two girls, he was pinching the bridge of his nose and let out an annoyed sigh.

"What am I going to do with you two?" He asked rhetorically.

"You two!? She started…" Alyssa started to say, but was cut off by Ren.

"Ms. Xiao Long please!" Ren scolded.

Professor Ren then sat and thought of what to do with the two students before him, after a few moments he let out a deep breath and addressed them.

"Since this is the first major incident between you two, I'm going to let you off with a warning… This will be your ONLY warning," he said, "If anything like this ever happens again, I'll make sure you two are given detention together until you can learn to get past your differences, understood?" Ren continued, more sternly this time.

"Yes Headmaster," the two of them replied in unison.

After talking to the two girls, Ren dismissed them separately to avoid another incident.

"Ugh, how does Oscar do it," Ren said as he leaned back in his office chair.

Alyssa made her way back to her class after she got dismissed, but the bell ending class rang, she was greeted in the halls a little while later by her teammates.

Lucas handed Alyssa her bag, something she had forgotten in class when she and Scarlet were escorted out by their professor.

"That got out of hand real quick," Lucas said.

"Yeah, it did, what is her problem anyway, how's your head by the way," Cyrus said.

"It hurts, but I'll live, if only I could just get a day of respite from this bullshit," Alyssa said.

Bianca began to think to herself for a moment after she heard her cousin's comment.

"Why don't we take tomorrow off and go out as a team, it'll be fun," Bianca said happily.

"But we have a test on Monday," Cyrus stated.

"One day off this weekend won't hurt," Bianca retorted.

"Eh, I guess so," Cyrus said unsurely.

"Anything to get away from her," Alyssa said.

"So, everyone is in agreement then?" Bianca inquired.

"Yea," Cyrus said.

"Yup," Alyssa stated.

"I'm down for whatever," Lucas said nonchalantly.

Team BLAC finished out their classes for the day and went about hanging out with Team AYST before turning in a bit early for the night in anticipation for the next day.

The next morning, Team BLAC awoke, well rested and got ready for the day. They all threw on some casual clothes they had brought, well except Lucas he just threw on his normal/combat outfit, which to be honest could double as a casual outfit. Bianca wore a formfitting red t-shirt, a white unzipped hoodie, black skinny jeans, and a pair of red and white sneakers. Alyssa wore a black and gold windbreaker over a gold tank top shirt and her usual formfitting black pants, and a pair of gold and black skate shoes. Cyrus threw on a loose black t-shirt over the top of a tight fitting white sweater, some dark gray jeans, and a pair of black and white canvas shoes, similar in style to his brother's.

The four of them headed down to the airship docks to catch one of the Bullhead transports down to the city.

"And where are you four off to?" A voice asked from behind Team BLAC as they made their way to a parked Bullhead.

The four of them stopped and turned to see Blake addressing them, her arms were crossed and an inquiring look on her face.

"Hey, Auntie Blake, we were just heading down to the city for a day out, we kinda need a bit of respite after these last couple weeks of school," Bianca said.

"Oh, well, have a nice time and try to be back by curfew," Blake said.

"Ok, we will," Bianca said.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Alyssa… I heard about what happened yesterday, don't let it happen again," Blake said sternly.

"Hehe… Okay mom," Alyssa said sheepishly.

Team BLAC then continued towards where the Bullhead's were parked.

Team BLAC boarded one of the Bullhead transports employed by the school to quickly fairy people to and from the City of Vale and the academy grounds. They informed the pilot they wished to head to Vale's commercial district, the area of the city with most of the shops and restaurants, and everything else needed for a day out on the town.

"So, what do you guys want to do first?" Bianca asked her team as they flew towards Vale in the transport.

"I vote we start with breakfast," Cyrus stated.

Alyssa's stomach began to grumble, "seconded," she said.

"Okay, breakfast it is," Bianca said.

The Bullhead landed at a small transport station in the commercial district, one of many such stations spread throughout the city much like bus-stops, although not as numerous.

Team BLAC exited the transport and thanked the pilot for the ride, since the school employed him there was no payment needed for their transport from school to city, or vice-versa when the time came for them to return to the academy grounds.

"Okay, anyone know a good place for breakfast?" Bianca asked.

"I know a place, it's not far from here," Cyrus replied and motioned for his teammates to follow him.

The commercial district was very lively on this Saturday morning, as it was on most weekends. There were many people out and about some looking to have a nice time out like Team BLAC was and others looked to be running errands for the day.

As Team BLAC headed down the street, they passed by many people, both humans and faunus, they all seemed to be getting along well, a lot had happened in the last twenty plus years to improve the relationship between the humans and faunus in the kingdom of Vale. The relationship between the two races was strained to say the absolute least, when the White Fang spearheaded an attack on Beacon Academy and the City of Vale twenty-four years ago. That event directly led to a major spike in conflict between humans and faunus throughout the kingdom, everything from protests to riots, and even killings, were conducted by both sides. Things looked bleak throughout the kingdom, but the younger generation came together in the name of peace and rejected the racist rhetoric of their elders. From the ashes of conflict rose a great history making moment within the city, Bjorn Van Rosenvelt, a prominent civil rights leader became the first faunus mayor of the City of Vale, under his administration the rights and treatment of the faunus improved drastically and became on par with that of the human residence of the city, setting a president for the rest of the kingdom. There is still a bit of animosity between humans and faunus within the city and the kingdom as a whole, but nowhere near the level it had once been.

After walking for a while Team BLAC came up to a restaurant situated on the corner of two streets. Above the entrance was a large elongated red hexagon shaped sign. The face of the sign was adorned with large noticeable yellow letters that read "Sonny's Diner".

When Team BLAC entered the diner, they were greeted by the sight of a rather large and imposing fox-faunus man dressed in a chef's outfit, conversating with a young human woman who looked to be the hostess of the establishment, she had on a white button-up shirt like the ones Cyrus frequently wore, with a black suit vest over it, along with matching slacks and heels.

The two of them looked towards the members of Team BLAC when they heard the bell on the door ring. The man was noticeably taller and more muscular than Cyrus, and he had a sizable belly to go along with his muscle, the hair on his head was a silvery color and combed with a part on right side and his goatee matched his hair in color, he had burgundy colored eyes, and a tanned complexion, when he was speaking Team BLAC could make out some sizable canines in his mouth, noticeably larger than normal ones. The young woman had a similar height and figure to that of their friend Alani, her hair was blonde with dark brown roots and arranged into a bun on the back of her head, her eyes were dark brown and she possessed a fair complexion.

"Well if it isn't the Grey brothers," the large faunus man said, his voice was very deep and hearty.

"How's it going Sonny?" Cyrus asked cheerfully as he walked up to the man and shook his hand.

"It's going good, business is on the up and up, how about yourself," Sonny replied.

"I've been good, Lucas and I got into Beacon, like we always talked about doing," Cyrus stated.

"Nice, good on ya," the man said as his attention moved from Cyrus to Bianca and Alyssa, "who are your lady friends?"

Cyrus turned to his partner and her cousin, "Sonny, these are our partners, Bianca Rose and Alyssa Xiao Long… Bianca, Alyssa, this is Sonny Apollo, the owner of this fine establishment and an old friend of Lucas and I," he said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you ladies," Sonny said.

"Likewise," Alyssa replied.

"The pleasure is ours, Mr. Apollo," Bianca stated.

"Please, call me Sonny, Mr. Apollo was my father," he said with a light laugh and then turned to the young woman he was once talking to, "Daisy, take our guests to a table."

"Yes sir," she replied as she grabbed four menus from behind the podium she was standing at and walked over to the members of Team BLAC.

"Would you like a table or booth?" she asked them.

"We'll take a booth," Cyrus replied.

Daisy led Team BLAC to their seats and gave then their menus as soon as they were seated.

"A waiter will be right with you," she said with a smile and then walked away.

As they waited for their waiter, them members of Team BLAC began to chat with one another while browsing their menus.

"So, how'd you guys meet Sonny?" Bianca inquired.

"He helped us out when we got into a bit of trouble," Lucas replied.

"What kind of trouble?" she asked.

"It wasn't much, we just owed some people a bit of money, Sonny bailed us out," he stated.

"You forgot the part where we had to wash dishes in the kitchen for the next month," Cyrus cut in.

"Yeah, that," Lucas said with a light laugh.

"Must have been a lot of money then, to have to do that for a month," Alyssa stated.

"Yeah it was, anyway, while we were repaying Sonny, we smelt the aroma of the food in the kitchen and it smelled really good, so a few days after we repaid him, we came in to try some and we've been regulars here ever since," Cyrus said.

"And just how did you two find yourselves, owing money to people who I suspect are less than reputable?" Alyssa inquired with a soft, yet stern tone.

Bianca elbowed Alyssa in the side and gave her a slightly angry look when she felt like Alyssa was trying to catch their partners in a lie and prove her theory about them to be right.

"You gotta do what you gotta do when you grow up on the street," Lucas stated.

The waiter arrived to take their orders, while Cyrus and Lucas were giving the man their orders, Alyssa leaned over to Bianca to whisper to her.

"What the hell was that for," she whispered, referring to the elbow to the side she had gotten a second ago.

"You know what it was for, were trying to have a nice day and you're bringing up stuff like that," Bianca scolded quietly.

"I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this, to see if they really are lying," Alyssa stated in a hushed tone.

"Well quit it, we're trying to have a nice day as a team and we don't need you…" Bianca hadn't realized her voice had gotten a bit louder.

"Ahem, and what will you ladies be having?" the waiter said.

Bianca and Alyssa quickly looked up to the waiter and their teammates staring at them and waiting for them to order.

"Oh, uh… I'll have the breakfast skillet and a cup of tea please," Bianca said.

"I'll have the tuna omelet and a coffee," Alyssa stated.

"Alright, your orders will be out soon," the waiter said before heading off to the kitchen to give their orders to the chefs.

"So… what was that about?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing." Bianca quickly and nervously answered.

"Okay…" Lucas replied skeptically.

The four of them sat in a bit of awkward silence while they waited for their food to arrive, once it did, they managed to break the silence and chit chat while they ate. Once they finished eating they left a tip on the table for the waiter and paid for their food at the register near the front of the restaurant. As they left they said goodbye to Sonny.

"That food was amazing," Alyssa said as she was rubbing her full belly.

"Yeah, we gotta go back there again," Bianca stated.

"I told you guys it was good," Cyrus said.

"So, what do we do now?" Bianca asked.

"Let's hit some shops," Alyssa replied.

As Team BLAC made their way down the street from the diner towards some shops, they passed by a crime scene. Across the street from them were several police officers keeping some curious civilians away from an alley as some paramedics walked out of it pulling a gurney with them. On the gurney was a full body bag, zipped up so none could see its contents.

"What do you guys think that's about?" Cyrus asked.

"I don't know, and I don't wanna find out," Lucas said.

"Come on guys, let's go, let's not ruin our day before it gets started," Bianca said.

Team BLAC continued on their way towards the shops after stopping to observe the crime scene for a moment.

Team BLAC entered shop after shop in the commercial district, they mostly spent their time browsing, but they bought a few items here and there. A lot of their time was spent in clothing stores, trying on different outfits, both seriously and jokingly.

"What about this one?" Bianca asked as she exited the changing room wearing a fine sundress and sun hat.

The dress was solid red with a thick white belt around the waist, the hat was solid white and had a thin red ribbon around it, separating the brim from the cap.

"Wow…" Cyrus said with a light astonishment at how beautiful Bianca looked it the outfit.

Bianca began to blush lightly, "what?" she asked shyly.

"Oh, nothing, it… it looks nice," he said.

"You think I should get it?" She asked.

"Definitely," he replied.

Bianca reentered the changing room and changed back into the outfit she had been wearing that day. She folded up the dress and carried it and the sun hat to the register to buy it. When they got to the register, Alyssa and Lucas came up from behind them.

"You guys find anything you like?" Alyssa asked Cyrus and Bianca.

"Nah, they don't have much here that is my style," Cyrus said.

"I found this cute red sundress and white sunhat," Bianca said as she showed it to her teammates.

"Nice," Alyssa replied.

"Did you guys find anything?" Cyrus asked.

"Nope, Lucas didn't want to try anything on, and I think I had the same problem as you, they didn't have much that fit my style," Alyssa replied.

Bianca paid for her new outfit and she and her team exited the store. When they got outside they were trying to decide where to go to next, Alyssa and Lucas wanted to check out a music store across the street, while Cyrus and Bianca wanted to chill for a minute and get something to drink. Since they couldn't come to a decision, they decided to split up for the time being.

When the group split, Cyrus and Bianca headed over to a juice shop a couple of stores over from the clothing store they had just been in, they were talking, joking, and laughing along the way. When they entered the store, they were still joking around when an elderly woman noticed them.

"Ah, young love, it's such a beautiful thing," the elderly woman said as she watched Cyrus and Bianca walk up to the counter.

After they got their drinks, Cyrus and Bianca sat down at a table and continued to talk, for a time, but after a while Cyrus got up and headed over to the bathroom.

When Cyrus was making his way back to his table after using the bathroom, the elder woman who had been watching them earlier stopped him.

"She's definitely a keeper," she said to Cyrus.

"Huh, excuse me?" He replied with a confused tone.

"Your girlfriend, she's very pretty," the woman stated.

"Oh… uh, she's not my girlfr…" Cyrus said in a flustered tone, but was silenced politely by the woman.

"It's okay young man, you don't have to be flustered by this old woman, go on now, have fun with your date," she said as she let Cyrus on his way.

Cyrus got back to the table and as soon as he sat, he and Bianca began to talk again.

"You know her?" Bianca asked.

"Oh, no, hehe… she thinks you're my girlfriend and that we're on a date," Cyrus said a bit nervously.

Bianca lightly giggled at this and she tried to hide a large blush coming over her face by taking a drink of her juice.

As the two of them continued to relax for the moment, Lucas and Alyssa were browsing the various albums in the music store across the street.

Alyssa was wearing a pair of headphones and using a terminal to browse the albums because every time she changed a page it would read off the names of the albums on it and the buttons to operate the terminal had braille writing on them. Lucas was going through the albums on the shelves, more so inspecting their cover art than going over the songs listed on them.

"Ahh! They have it!" Alyssa fangirled quite loudly as the terminal read off the name of an album she had been wanting for a long time but could never find, 'Schooled; Volume Two' by The Achieve Men.

"Hey Alyssa, could you be any louder," Lucas stated.

Alyssa then sensed everyone in the store staring at her and she felt very embarrassed over the whole situation. She then headed over to the counter to request a copy of the album, covering her now very red face the whole way.

Lucas went back to browsing the various albums on the shelves until he found one from one of his favorite groups that he didn't already own, 'Red and Blue' by the duo, Sarge and L.L. Church.

"So, what was that screaming about?" Lucas asked as he walked over to Alyssa.

"This," Alyssa said as she held up the Album she had just purchased.

"Really… The Achieve Men, aren't they a bit old," Lucas stated.

"Hey, they're not old, they're classic…" Alyssa said, "what did you end up getting?" She continued.

"The latest Album from Sarge and L.L. Church," Lucas replied.

"Oh, that's cool… I guess," Alyssa said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucas asked with a slightly offended tone.

"Oh, nothing, I just took you as more of a hip-hop kinda guy, and not… whatever that music is," Alyssa stated with a bit of a smug tone.

"Says the person fangirling over a thirty-year-old boy band," Lucas said condescendingly.

"Hey, what'd I say, these guys aren't old, they're classic," Alyssa retorted.

"Whatever," Lucas said with a light laugh, "let's go catch up with our teammates," he continued.

Lucas and Alyssa began to walk out of the store when the cashier called out to them, "Ay mon, you gon' pay for that!?"

"Huh… oh right, sorry," Lucas said as he rushed over to the counter to pay for the album he picked out.

Alyssa giggled lightly at her partner's blunder.

As Alyssa and Lucas finished browsing the albums and had bought the ones they wanted, Cyrus and Bianca were finishing their drinks and were about to leave the shop to meet back up with their teammates.

Bianca and Cyrus stood from their seats and began to head towards the door of the shop, the elderly woman who mistook Cyrus and Bianca for being on a date waved at them as they left, being polite, the two of them waved back and gave her a smile.

When they exited the building a short woman walked up to Bianca and stood in front of her, uncomfortably close. She was shorter than Bianca by a few inches, but she looked to be almost as old, if not a bit older than her parents. Her pink and brown heterochromic eyes looked into Bianca's silver eyes.

"You know this girl?" Cyrus asked.

"No," Bianca replied as the woman stared at Bianca, getting closer as she did, she seemed to be inspecting her face, like she recognized her.

Bianca began to get annoyed with the woman, "Hey! Ever heard of personal space!" She shouted.

The woman pulled back quickly and cocked her head to the side while blinking twice in quick succession, when she did this, the color of her eyes switched, her right eye changing from Brown to Pink and her left eye from Pink to Brown. After this she turned and walked away from Bianca and Cyrus.

"Well that was weird," Cyrus said.

"Very," Bianca replied.

Bianca and Cyrus met back up with Alyssa and Lucas soon thereafter. The four of them spent the rest of the day walking around town and enjoying the sights of the city, they did a bit more shopping, or rather browsing in the shops. After they finished shopping they headed back to Sonny's Diner for dinner before they had to make their way back to the Bullhead Transport station and get back to Beacon.

"Wow, twice in one day, must be a special occasion," Sonny said jokingly to Team BLAC as they entered his establishment.

"Whatever man," Cyrus said in a joking manor.

"Hey, Sonny, why are you working the front?" Lucas asked.

"Daisy just finished her shift and since we're closing in a couple hours I didn't want to call any of my other hosts or hostesses in… so, what'll it be, table or booth?" Sonny said as he pulled four menus out from under the counter he was standing behind.

"Booth," Cyrus replied.

The four of them sat down at the booth Sonny led them too and were quickly helped by a waiter. They enjoyed a nice dinner together, Cyrus ordered a burger with a side of fries, while Lucas got a steak with a baked potato on the side, Alyssa ordered a plate of fish and chips, and Bianca ordered a personal pizza with a couple of bread sticks. As they ate, they laughed and joked, Cyrus brought up the incident with the old woman thinking he and Bianca were on a date, that brought up some laughs from Alyssa and Lucas, the former of which teased her cousin for blushing at the mention of it. Their outing in the city ended on a high note.

The day turned to dusk as Team BLAC walked back to the transport station after enjoying a fine meal. The sky above Vale faded from a deep blue and violet, to bright and vibrant orange, it was beautiful with its borderless flow of color, seemingly stretching for infinity, only being broken up by the beautifully lit cityscape below.

Team BLAC headed in the direction of the transport station they had come from earlier in the day, unbeknownst to them, the whole way back, they were being watched. The same boy Bianca had seen in the Emerald Forest on their initiation was trailing them from the roof tops, staying well out of the range of Alyssa's normal semblance level.

They passed by a bar with several chopper motorcycles parked out front. When they got closer to the building they heard a loud commotion from inside, like a fight was occurring.

Suddenly a large burley man was thrown through the window and he hit the ground right in front of them.

A familiar face stepped out of the building through the shattered window, it was their combat professor, Ember Haze, she was taking a rather large chug of what Team BLAC presumed to be alcohol from her metal calabash.

"Oh… hey students," she said when she saw them, she was visibly drunk, and had a strong smell of alcohol on her breath, it was rather impressive that she could still function with how drunk she appeared.

"Professor Haze…" The four of them said in unison.

The burly man who had been thrown through the window then got up and charged professor Haze.

She delivered a swift roundhouse kick to his jaw when he got close, dropping him to the ground once again.

"Quick lesson kiddos, when you're not in a sanctioned fight… double tap," she said and then walked over to where the man was laying.

She proceeded to kick the man in the face as he attempted to get back up, knocking him out cold.

Professor Haze took another swig of the contents of her calabash as she began to lean backwards very far, she looked like she was about to lose her balance, but she still managed to stay upright.

She stood back up and turned to the broken-out widow of the bar, "I'll see you guys next week," she said.

A voice from inside the bar called out, "see ya then Ember."

She then turned to Team BLAC, "and I'll see you four in class on Monday."

Professor Haze then began to walk in the direction Team BLAC was coming from, still surprisingly in control of her movements, but she did have the telltale drunken sway when she walked.

"Shouldn't we call for help for this guy," Bianca asked, referring to the man her professor had knocked out.

"He'll be fine…" Professor Haze said, a rather loud belch quickly followed her words, "oh, excuse me."

Team BLAC looked down at the man, he let out a groan full of pain, after that they looked into the bar to see a few broken tables and chairs and a couple of more guys knocked unconscious, a few of the patrons were tending to them.

They went on their way, when they passed the door of the bar a couple of equally burly men walked out and picked up the man who was lying unconscious on the pavement and brought him inside the building.

"Well… That was a thing," Alyssa stated as she and her teammates continued to walk past the bar.

"Yup…" Cyrus replied.

The boy who was trailing Team BLAC had watched the whole scene with dispassionate intrigue, taking a mental note of Professor Haze. He continued to follow Team BLAC back to the transport station after the scene at the bar. He watched as they boarded the last transport to Beacon.

After Team BLAC departed, a flurry of shadowy mist manifested itself around the boy, completely covering his body and quickly dissipated with him nowhere to be seen.

Team BLAC arrived back on the academy grounds just before curfew and headed back to their dorms for a good night's rest, their team outing had been enjoyable for all of them.

The next morning a large transport ship landed at the Beacon airship docks, it let out a few passengers, among them was a man in around his late thirties to early forties. He had a noticeably tanned complexion with freckles running underneath his green eyes. He was around 6'2" and possessed a slim build. His hair was black with little streaks of gray here and there. He wore a pair of round spectacles on his face and an olive three-piece suit with a white button-up shirt underneath, he also wore an orange ascot tie around his neck, and orange gloves on his hands. He had a cane, the same cane held by the statue of Professor Ozpin, but he didn't use it to help him walk, he held it in his hand and had it pinched between his left side and bicep.

As the man walked he pulled out his scroll and sent a message to several people, Professors Belladonna, Ren, Haze, Coventina, and Arenas, the message read "Sorry to disturb you on your day off, but we need to meet immediately, it's urgent - Oscar Pine."

Oscar was waiting in his clockwork office atop Beacon Tower for those he had messaged to arrive. The first of which were Blake, Ren, and Calypso.

"Where are Adrián and Ember?" Oscar asked.

"He had to pick her up, apparently she went out on a bar crawl last night," Calypso said in an annoyed tone.

"There's no need to be harsh, Calypso, none of us knew when Professor Pine would be getting back," Ren stated.

"How was your meeting with Professor Vasilias?" Blake asked.

"I'd like to discuss that when all persons are accounted for," Oscar replied.

"Of course," Blake replied with a nod of her head.

About thirty minutes went by before Professors Arenas and Haze arrived in Professor Pine's office.

"Mmm… sorry were late… hangover… not fun, worth it, but not fun," Ember said, while gripping her forehead and entering the room with Adrián.

"Now that everyone is here, I have some news about our missing comrade," Oscar stated as he leaned forward in his seat, placed his elbows on his desk, and interlocked his fingers.

"Hey, Oz, mind if I make some coffee, it helps with the headache" Ember said with a bit of pain in her voice, she was still clutching her forehead to try and soothe her headache.

The others in the room all just looked at her with annoyed looks on their faces.

"Right, bad time… sorry," she said and redirected her attention to the conversation.

"With help from Professor Vasilias, we've located Cardin, sadly it is as we feared, he was dead when we found him, or rather what was left of him," he said.

"Scarlet is going to be devastated when she hears about this," Ren stated.

"I'm sure we all know what she'll be going through, it'll be our jobs to help her through it," Blake stated.

"So, how do we tell her?" Ember asked.

"I'll let her know, after all, she is one of my students, she doesn't know anyone else in this room that well," Adrián stated.

Oscar nodded at Adrián, giving him full approval to inform Scarlet of her father's death.

"Just, be sure to lay it on her lightly," Calypso said to Adrián.

"You don't gotta worry about it Cal, I know what to do," Adrián replied.

"Also, we've located our Rogue Maiden," Oscar stated, gaining the immediate and undivided attention of everyone in the room.

"Well, where's she been at for the past five years?" Calypso inquired.

"Right here in Vale," Oscar said calmly.

"Are you serious, she's been here, right under our noses the entire time!?" Adrián shouted in disbelief.

"Do we know where in Vale?" Blake asked.

"All I know is that she is defiantly somewhere in the city, where specifically, I don't know," Oscar stated.

"So, you want us to track her down and bring her in?" Ember asked.

"That wouldn't be very smart, she's been hiding from us for a reason, if she finds out were on her trail she may disappear again," Ren stated.

"Agreed, what I want you all to do is go about your normal routines, but keep an eye out for her, anything you find, relay it to me, quietly," Oscar stated.

After informing his inner circle of the new info he had attained, Professor Pine sent them on their way. They had their first real lead on the location of the summer maiden since the last one was killed five years ago.


	6. Sorrow and Reconciliation

Chapter 6: Sorrow and Reconciliation

The Monday after Team BLACs outing Professor Arenas was giving an exam on the last few weeks material. His exams were challenging, but not too difficult for most. Of all the members of Team BLAC, Alyssa had the most trouble with his tests, mainly because she didn't care much for history, even though she didn't have the best grades in the class she was still passing, if only just. The top students in Professor Arenas' class were Bianca and Scarlet, both were very bright young women who at the very least, somewhat easily grasped the material. The test took the entire period and students weren't allowed to leave until everyone had completed it.

As the last of his students turned in their tests Professor Arenas stood from behind his desk and walked in front of it.

"If all the tests have been turned in, you may be excused," he said.

The students made their way out of the classroom, as usual Team BLAC were among the first out, followed shortly by Yaara and Scarlet.

"Ms. Winchester, I need to speak with you momentarily, I recommend you take a seat," Professor Arenas said, his voice sounding a bit somber.

"I'll wait for you outside," Yaara said to her partner.

As Yaara walked out of the classroom to give Professor Arenas and Scarlet some privacy, Team BLAC then approached her.

"Hey Yaara, why does, the professor want to talk to Scarlet?" Bianca asked.

"Hopefully to inform her that she's being kicked out," Alyssa said under her breath.

Bianca gave Alyssa a sharp and forceful jab in the side with her elbow after she spoke.

"I don't know, but the way he sounded has me wor…" Yaara replied, but was cut off by a loud shout.

"No! That's not true!" Scarlet shouted loud enough to be heard through the thick wooden door of the classroom.

Everyone in the hallway turned to see Scarlet storming out of the classroom, with Professor Arenas trying to bring her back so they could continue to speak, but she just continued to run away from him.

"Scar, what's going on?" Yaara asked as she grasped Scarlet's arm, stopping her from running off.

"Get away from me, now," Scarlet commanded softly.

"Scar, come on, talk to me," Yaara said softly with concern in her voice.

"I said get away from me!" Scarlet shouted as she shoved Yaara away, causing her to hit the back of her head on a door handle, nearly knocking her out cold.

Team BLAC and Professor Arenas ran over to Yaara to try and help her, a bit of blood was dripping from the back of her head, Alyssa's semblance had begun to flare up in rage at Scarlet.

"What the hell is your problem!" Alyssa shouted at Scarlet.

Alyssa then sensed it, rage and hate weren't the emotions causing Scarlet to lash out, it was sorrow, she then sensed the large tear drops running down Scarlet's cheeks, her semblance died down when she realized all this.

"Scarlet?" Alyssa stated in a bit of concerned confusion.

Scarlet then ran from the scene as Yaara regained half consciousness.

"Scar… come… back," she said in an immense amount of pain, she looked to have a concussion.

Yaara attempted to get up and chase her partner, but when she did she almost fell back into the door, luckily Processor Arenas and Cyrus caught her so she didn't hit her head again.

"Hey, hey, don't try to move," Professor Arenas stated as he and Cyrus carefully set her back on the ground.

Two people came sprinting down the hall towards where Yaara and the others were at, a man, and a woman, both appeared to be students as they were wearing the Beacon uniform. The woman had royal blue hair arranged in a short bob, with eyes to match. She was the same height as Lucas, possessed a petite figure and pale skin. The man was taller than Professor Arenas by a few inches and possessed a larger build than him as well. He had tanned skin, dark red hair styled into a fohawk, and scarlet eyes.

"Yaara, what happened, Garnett and I heard screaming," the girl said with concern.

Yaara was still a bit out of it from the hit to the head she took, "Scar… ran… Electra… please go… after her," she struggled to say.

Electra looked to Professor Arenas, "is Yaara gonna be ok?" she asked.

"She'll be fine Ms. Azure, I was just about to take her to the infirmary," Professor Arenas said reassuringly.

"Where did Scar go?" Garnett asked.

"She ran down the hall, the opposite way you two came from," Alyssa stated.

"Go after your teammate, make sure she doesn't do anything rash, I'll take care of Yaara," Professor Arenas said.

"Do you need help carrying her?" Garnett asked.

"No Mr. Fawkes, I can handle it, go with your partner and find Ms. Winchester," Professor Arenas replied.

Professor Arenas gently picked up Yaara, making sure to cradle her head so it didn't move around too much as he carried her, and headed off to the infirmary.

Electra and Garnett then ran off in the direction Scarlet ran in.

"What do you think that was about?" Bianca asked.

"Probably just lashing out because she got called out on her bullshit," Lucas stated.

"No…" Alyssa said softly, gaining a surprised look from her teammates.

"If it's not that then what is it?" Lucas questioned his partner.

"I don't know, but something didn't seem right about her, she… she was crying about something," Alyssa said.

"Probably just throwing a fit then," Lucas stated.

"No, if it was just a fit, I would've sensed anger, frustration, even hate, but all I sensed in her was, sorrow… sadness," Alyssa said softly.

"I don't care what it was, you don't attack your teammates, especially your own partner," Cyrus said angrily.

"Cyrus… B… just, get to your next class, I need to go for a walk, Luc, you can tag along if you want," Alyssa said and then began to head down the hall to the building's exit.

"I'll let you be, I'm gonna grab something to eat," Lucas replied.

"Come on Cyrus, let's get to class," Bianca stated softly to her partner.

Electra and Garnett were scouring the campus looking for their teammate to talk to try and talk to her to see what's was so bad it made her give Yaara a concussion and put her in the infirmary.

"Scar! Come on, talk to us!" Electra called out.

"Hey Scar, please, let us help you!" Garnett yelled.

Little did they know, Scarlet was close by, sitting in the fetal position bawling quietly so they didn't hear her. The news Professor Arenas had given her was her worst nightmare come true, her father, Cardin Winchester, was in fact dead.

Cardin may have been a nuisance and bully during his time at Beacon, but later in life, people who knew him said he lightened up quite a bit, especially once his daughter was born. He had even reconciled with some of the students he bullied or been a general 'ass' towards at Beacon. A faunus, Velvet Scarlatina was one of the first people that he apologized to and begged forgiveness from. Despite reconciling with many people there was one person in particular he wished he could've reconciled with, Jaune Arc, but by the time he came around, it was too late for that.

In the years after graduation, Cardin became a very successful and respected huntsman and eventually became a professor at Beacon. This was around the same time as Lie Ren and Blake Belladonna, two people who couldn't stand him in their time as students. However, with time, Ren and Blake learned to forgive Cardin and eventually, even called him 'friend'. As he had become respected as a huntsman, he too became such as a professor at Beacon, being named by many students as their favorite professor. He taught Grimm Studies and was a contemporary of Professors Peter Port and Calypso Coventina.

When the turmoil between humans and faunus reached its height in Vale, around the time Bjorn Van Rosenvelt began his run for the office of mayor, Cardin was one of the first humans to back his bid, he was joined in this by the members of the famous Team RWBY and the surviving members of Team JNPR.

Electra and Garnett had headed off, away from the area they were searching as they couldn't find Scarlet, who was hiding close by and crying.

As Scarlet was sitting, still in the fetal position, she heard footsteps near her, they stopped for a moment and then began to get closer.

"Go away Electra, I don't want to talk to you or Garnett right now," Scarlet said in a muffled voice.

"That's okay, cause I'm not either of them," a familiar voice said.

Scarlet looked up from her curled up position to see Alyssa standing over her, she wasn't angry, nor did she have a smug look on her face, she just had a look of concern.

"Mind if I take a seat?" Alyssa asked.

Scarlet looked down, back into her curled up position, "I don't care what you do," she said.

Alyssa sat with her legs crisscrossed in front of Scarlet.

"When you're ready to talk, I'll listen," Alyssa said.

Scarlet said nothing back to her. For almost an hour, the two sat in silence, Alyssa patiently waiting for Scarlet to speak. Finally, she said something.

"Why are you here?" Scarlet asked with a light sniffle.

"Ah, she speaks," Alyssa said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"You didn't answer my question, why are you here," Scarlet said more aggressively.

"Ok, ok, calm down there… I know, we've had our problems, that near fight my first day here, my partner slamming you to the ground after class the next day, all the nasty looks we shot at each other… and let's not forget last Friday's incident… but, I can sense something is up with you, so, just tell me… being blind, I've been told makes someone quite the good listener," Alyssa said.

"My father died… well, he's been dead, it's just… no one knew for sure till recently… not till today," Scarlet said somberly.

Alyssa's eyes widened in realization, Scarlet's bullying of other students, her coldness towards her own teammates could all be traced to this, her grief and denial of her father's death.

"I… I'm so sorry," Alyssa said softly.

"Why would you be, you didn't know him," Scarlet retorted somberly.

"I'm just trying to help," Alyssa said.

"Why though?" Scarlet asked.

"What do you mean?" Alyssa inquired.

"You know damn well what I mean, you just said it a second ago," Scarlet stated, her voice growing a bit more aggressive, yet still sounding sad and somber.

"I know we don't like each other very much… not at all really, but I'll tell you what, life is too short to hold grudges," Alyssa said.

"I'm done talking… please, just go away," Scarlet said softly.

Alyssa sighed in disappointment, "ok, but if you feel like talking later, meet me at Beacon Cliff at sun down," Alyssa said and then got up and walked away.

Alyssa was late getting to her combat class with her team, she had lost track of time after speaking with Scarlet, she spent the rest of her time off and most of the next class period walking around campus and thinking to herself. Even though Scarlet was a general 'ass' towards her and many other students, she could somewhat understand why, after all, people deal with grief in different ways.

When she arrived in her combat class, she could see her team and most of Team AYST along with the other students in the class watching Ebony clobber another student.

Ebony fired at her opponent with her rail sniper, Artemis, it made a high-pitched charging noise every time she pulled the trigger.

The rail round hit the boy in the stomach, and staggered him greatly.

While the boy was recovering Ebony switched Artemis to its second form, a two handed single bitted battle-axe.

Ebony rushed and clobbered the poor kid into the ground, sending his aura into the red and ending the fight.

"And that's the match, Ebony Tacari is the winner," Professor Haze announced.

The remaining members of Team AYST and the other members of Team BLAC began cheering for Ebony after her victory.

As professor Haze walked over to the terminal to randomize the next match, she noticed Alyssa walking to sit with her teammates.

"Ah, well if it isn't Ms. Xiao Long gracing us with her presence," she stated condescendingly.

Alyssa said nothing back and just quietly walked to her seat amongst her teammates and friends.

"Where have you been?" Bianca asked sternly.

"Walking… and thinking," Alyssa replied softly.

"Thinking about what? You had an hour and a half, no, two hours to get here and you arrive fifteen minutes before class ends?" Bianca inquired sternly.

As they were talking the pictures on the screen had stopped spinning, they landed on Alani and another student's face.

"And the final match of the day is Alani Kamehameha and Apollo Stone," Professor Haze announced.

The two made their way to the stage, and as usual Professor Haze informed them of the rules and started the match.

The boy Alani was set to fight looked more like a pro boxer than a huntsman in training, he wore red and white striped boxing shorts with blue bands around the waist and ends of the legs, he also had no shirt on, with a pair of armored combat gloves in the style of boxing gloves, and white high top boxing shoes.

He took his stance as Alani drew her weapon from her back, Kū. As she held it out it resembled a sword, but then she opened her hand slightly allowing it to unfold and lock into place, revealing it to be a double tipped spear, the spear tips of her weapon were serrated, with the serrations resembling shark's teeth.

Alani then spun the weapon over her head before presenting one of the ends to her opponent, when she did, the serrated edges of the spear tips began to spin like chainsaw blades.

Professor Haze signaled the start of the fight and well, it didn't last long.

The two of them charged at each other and traded blows for a moment, it got pretty ugly for Apollo after that.

Before he knew what hit him, Apollo's Aura had dipped into the red and Alani's was barely scratched.

"Hmm, that was fast, alright, the winner of the match is Alani Kamehameha," Professor Haze announced.

Professor Haze walked to the center of the room as Alani and Apollo exited it, "Ok class, you're free to go," she said.

After their class, Teams BLAC and AYST headed to their normal hangout spot, a park in the center of Beacon's campus. They typically hung out under a large and old oak tree with a bench hanging from one of the branches. They sat around the tree and began to chit chat like they normally did, talking about the day's events and what not.

"Hey… Remnant to Alyssa, I'm talking to you," Lucas said with an annoyed tone.

Alyssa had tuned out her teammates and friends while she was sitting, leaned against the old oak tree.

"Huh, oh sorry, what's up?" Alyssa asked.

"I asked you what took you so long to make it to class," Lucas said, his tone of voice still sounding a bit annoyed.

"I… I was talking to Scarlet," she stated.

"Wait, wait, wait, you… and Scarlet… talking!?" Lucas replied in disbelief.

"Well, what happened?" Cyrus asked with his arms crossed, a skeptical look on his face.

"Her father died," Alyssa said somberly.

Cyrus and Lucas came to the same realization that Alyssa had earlier when she talked to Scarlet, meanwhile Bianca and Team AYST were in a bit of shock at the news.

"Nā waimaka o ka lani… the Heavens cry when a loved one passes," Alani stated softly.

"She didn't tell me much, just that, the rest of the time between talking to her and class, I was thinking about what I could've… should've said to her," Alyssa stated.

"I know it may be tough, but I know what you could tell her," Bianca said softly.

"And what's that?" Alyssa asked.

"Tell her about Grandpa Tai," Bianca said somberly.

"Oh… that…" Alyssa replied with a saddened voice.

Alyssa and Bianca told their friends and partners about what had happened to their grandfather, after that, Alyssa said she was going to meet Scarlet at Beacon Cliff at sun down, upon hearing this, Yin gave Alyssa an old proverb about death his parents had told him when he was younger. When the sun began to set, Alyssa said goodbye to her friends and teammates and headed off to meet Scarlet.

After Alyssa had left her upon her request, Scarlet got up from her fetal position she was sitting in and began to walk around campus, being sure to avoid her searching teammates Electra and Garnett. Her tears had all but dried up and her eyes were turning red from the irritation of her crying.

"Why?!" Scarlet shouted in sorrow, "…he was the only family I had left," she continued somberly.

Scarlet continued to aimlessly wonder the campus until the sun started to set. When she noticed this, she stopped, as if to ponder something in her sadness. After a moment of thinking, she headed off in the direction of Beacon Cliff, she had decided to take up Alyssa on her offer to talk.

When she arrived at the cliff, she was alone, Alyssa was nowhere to be seen. Scarlet was a little frustrated by this. She walked over to the edge of the cliff and sat with her feet dangling over the edge.

"I could just end it right now… this cliff is certainly high enough," Scarlet said to herself.

"You shouldn't say things like that," Alyssa said as she walked up to where Scarlet was sitting.

"Hey…" Scarlet replied softly.

"I see you decided to take me up on that offer," Alyssa said as she took a seat next to Scarlet.

"So, what do you have to say to me?" Scarlet asked.

"I know you think you're the only one who's ever experienced loss, trust me, you're not, grief just does that to people, I just want you to know that I know what you're going through," Alyssa said.

"You've lost family to this line of work too," Scarlet inquired with a quiet tone.

"Yea… My grandfather, Taiyang Xiao Long… he was killed on a mission as well," Alyssa said somberly.

"Oh…" Scarlet replied.

"I may not have lost a parent, but my grandfather was very prominent in both mine and my cousin's lives, whenever he had any time off from teaching at Signal or hunting, he would travel from his home on Patch to see B and I in Vale, that is when my cousin lived in the city," Alyssa remembered fondly.

"I never knew my grandparents, my father didn't speak about them very much, he was the only family I ever had," Scarlet stated.

"What about your mother?" Alyssa asked.

"She died giving birth to me," Scarlet said somberly.

"Oh, I'm… I'm sorry," Alyssa said.

"You don't have to be, I never knew her, and after she died, my father didn't talk about her either," Scarlet said.

"My grandfather died right around the time I got my semblance, I remember beforehand, he and my mother Yang, were bickering over who would get to train me," Alyssa said with a light, yet somber laugh.

Scarlet chuckled lightly at Alyssa's story.

"That… that was the last night I saw my grandfather, he went out on a mission the next day and two weeks later we got word he had been killed," Alyssa said with a sad tone, a tear drop falling from her left eye and rolling over the scar below it.

"The last time I saw my father was, six… well almost seven months ago now, we went out for lunch, we talked and laughed, just generally had a good time, at the end of the day we ran into, not one of his class mates, but someone he attended Beacon with briefly, a Velvet Scarlatina I believe her name was, they talked for a second and he introduced me to her, she was really nice, after that, we headed back to Beacon, I went to see my team and my father met with Professor Pine, the next day he left for his mission and… never came back," Scarlet said and then began to cry once more.

Scarlet grasped the skirt of her uniform tightly in her fists as the tears uncontrollably flowed from her eyes.

"And now I know why… he's dead, gone… and never coming back," Scarlet said between weeps.

Alyssa placed her hand on Scarlet's shoulder to try and comfort her.

"There are a couple of things I want to tell you, a quote I read in a book once, and a proverb my friend Yin told me when I told him I was coming to talk to you," Alyssa said with a calm tone.

Scarlet looked up at Alyssa, "go ahead, tell me," she said, still crying heavily.

"The first is the proverb, 'death is to life, as night is to day, they are forever linked in harmony, and both are something no one can avoid'," Alyssa said.

Scarlet ceased crying for a moment to think about what Alyssa had just said.

"As for the second thing, I read it in a book, god… I can't remember the author and it's killing me, anyway, that quote was 'no one you love is ever truly lost'… I found that quote when I was going through what you're experiencing right now, it helped me cope, I figured it could help you," Alyssa stated softly.

"Alyssa…" Scarlet said softly.

"Yea?" Alyssa inquired.

"Thank you," Scarlet stated softly.

The two of them then heard footsteps approaching form behind, when they turned to see who it was, they noticed it was Electra, and Garnett.

"Scar, we've been looking everywhere for you," Electra said as she ran up to Scarlet and embraced her in a hug.

"How did you find us?" Scarlet asked.

"Alyssa found us and told us you might be here," Garnett replied, "she also told us to give you two a minute before we came to find you," he continued.

Scarlet looked at Alyssa and gave her a light smile.

Electra released Scarlet from her hug, but she kept her hands firmly on Scarlet's shoulders.

"When she found us, she told us what happened, I… we just want you to know that we're here for you," Electra said.

Scarlet looked from Electra to Garnett, he gave her a reassuring nod when their eyes met.

"I… I'm sorry, for everything, the way I've been acting towards you guys, towards everyone, I don't know what came over me," Scarlet said while trying to control her tears.

"Hey, there's no need to apologize, we understand, grief is a hell of an emotion," Electra said calmly.

"No need… what I did to Yaara, that was wrong… can we go see her, I need to talk with her," Scarlet said softly.

"Sure, we can go see Yaara," Electra said as she helped Scarlet up from the ground.

The three of them began to walk off, when Scarlet turned around towards Alyssa, "you're welcome to come to if you'd like," she said.

Alyssa nodded her head and got up to walk with them to the infirmary.

The four of them headed towards Beacon's infirmary, it was getting close to curfew so they would have to make this quick.

Beacon's infirmary was located close to the training halls, for good reason, as that is where most of the major accidents occur. The infirmary was more like a small hospital to be honest, it may have only had one floor, but it was fully stocked with top of the line medical equipment. They also had different departments, like normal check-up areas, an emergency room, and an area where doctors could perform various lifesaving operations.

Scarlet, Electra, Garnett, and Alyssa arrived at the infirmary just before visiting hours ended, so they were only granted a few minutes with Yaara in her room.

The nurse led them down the hall to Yaara's room and opened the door for them.

"Ms. Stallion, you have some visitors," the nurse said as she let the four of them in.

Yaara had changed out of her uniform and was wearing a cheap looking white t-shirt and gray sweatpants, she also had bandage wrappings wrapped around her head, messing up her normally beautiful short blonde hair.

When Yaara looked over and saw Scarlet she wasn't angry, even though she had every right to be, she had a look of relief on her face, relief that her partner didn't do something stupid and rash in her grief.

Scarlet walked up to Yaara and gently grasped her in a hug, Yaara reciprocated this action with a hug of her own.

"I'm so sorry," Scarlet said as tears fell from her eyes.

"It's fine Scar, no need to apologize to me, I'm just happy you're okay," Yaara said.

"It's not fine, how can you not be mad at me for what I did?" Scarlet asked.

"Oh, believe me, I was, I kinda still am, but Professor Arenas told me what had happened and why you lashed out the way you did… just know I'll be here for you and so will the rest of the team," Yaara replied.

"Um, Scarlet, there's one more thing I want to tell you," Alyssa stated.

"What is it?" Scarlet asked as she half way turned to face Alyssa.

"While we talked, you told me your father was all the family you had left, I want to tell you that's not true," Alyssa said.

"Whys that?" Scarlet Inquired, while wiping the tears from her face and releasing Yaara from her hug.

"You have family in this very room, I've heard from people that have attended Beacon, or the other hunter academies that most teams don't stay in touch after graduation, but there are a few, like my parents' team that form bonds that last a lifetime… I can tell that the members of your team think of each other as family and you should too," Alyssa said.

Scarlet looked around at her teammates, they all nodded in agreement to what Alyssa had said, the tears from Scarlet's eyes grew to be like a flood on her cheeks when they did this.

Yaara grasped Scarlet's hand and both Electra and Garnett walked over to her and embraced her in a hug.

Yaara leaned forward slightly to see past her teammates, "thank you Alyssa," she said.

Alyssa gave Yaara a two finger salute and exited the room to give Team SSGE their moment.


	7. Talks of Love and Loss

Chapter 7: Talks of Love and Loss

About a week had passed since Scarlet received the news of her father's death, it was still hitting her pretty hard, but with the help of her team and professors she was learning to cope with the new reality. She had started to lighten up quite a bit, she ceased bullying other students, even though she still did but heads with people from time to time, it was nowhere near as bad as it had once been. Thanks to the effects of her aura and a day of rest in the infirmary, Yaara fully recovered from her concussion, and the wound on her head fully healed.

Team BLAC was exiting their Grimm Studies class after having been given a very tough test by Professor Coventina. They made their way down the hall when they ran into Alani, who was surprisingly alone.

"Hey Al, how's it going?" Alyssa asked.

"Good, how about yourselves?" Alani replied.

"We're doing fine…" Bianca said and then looked around for a moment with a confused look on her face, "hey, where's Yin at? You two are normally attached at the hip," she continued.

"He's off meditating in the park where we normally hang out, he says there is good qi over there," Alani said with a smile.

"He's a regular Zen Master, isn't he," Cyrus joked.

Alani giggled at Cyrus' statement, "yeah, he defiantly is," she said between giggles.

"Hey, you know, you never told us how you guys met," Alyssa said.

"I haven't? Coulda' swore I did, I know we already told Roy and Eb," Alani said in a confused tone, "I tell ya what, after class today, we'll tell you guys, I think I should have Yin around for that," she continued.

"Okay, well I guess we'll see you then," Bianca said.

"See ya guys later," Alani said as her and Team BLAC headed their separate ways.

Later, in their history class, Professor Arenas was giving a lecture on the founding and early history of the Kingdom of Vale.

As was the norm with most of their classes, Alyssa wasn't paying much attention, dozing in and out of a nap and letting her scroll record the professor's lecture, and Lucas was leaning back in his chair, staring off into space. The only members of Team BLAC paying attention were Bianca and Cyrus.

"The City of Vale was founded as a port town for the Kingdom of Helios, could anyone hear tell me what year Helios founded Vale?" He stated.

Bianca raised her hand to answer the question.

"Yes, Ms. Rose," Professor Arenas said.

"The Kingdom of Helios founded the port city of Vale in the year 453 Before Vytal Era," Bianca said.

"Very good Ms. Rose, could you also tell me when Vale rose up and conquered Helios?" Professor Arenas inquired.

Bianca thought to herself for a moment, but couldn't come up with the answer, so Professor Arenas moved on.

He asked a few other students, but they either didn't know the answer, or said the wrong year.

"Vale revolted against Helios in the year 366 BVE and conquered the whole of the kingdom by the year 357 BVE," Professor Arenas said.

"Within the span of just under one hundred years, Vale rose from a minor port city, to a major player in the politics of Northern and Western Sanus," Professor Arenas said as he paced back and forth in front of the class.

Suddenly what sounded like grinding gears could be heard in the classroom and Professor Arena's legs locked up causing him to fall forward.

"¡Hijo de Puta!" He shouted as he fell forward and hit the ground quite hard.

"Professor are you okay!?" Yaara asked frantically.

Several other students jumped from their seats with looks of concern about their faces, a few began to head down from where they were seated to where Professor Arenas was lying.

"I'm fine class… could one of you please grab the seat from behind my desk and the ratchet out of the middle drawer," he said as he pulled himself to a sitting position, his legs were locked straight out and stiff as a board.

Yaara got up from her seat and grabbed the chair and ratchet as he had asked.

With the help of a few students, Professor Arenas pulled himself onto the chair, after that, he rolled up his pant legs, revealing both of his legs to be robotic prosthetics from just above the knees and down, just like his arm.

Yaara then handed him the ratchet and he began working on his right leg.

"Sorry about this class, it happens from time to time," Professor Arenas said, reassuring the class that he was fine.

After working on his right leg, he flexed it to see if it was back in working order, it was, after this he started working on his left leg.

Once his left leg was back in proper working order he rolled his pant legs back down, stood from his seat, placed the chair back behind his desk and the ratchet in his desk.

"Okay, back to work," Professor Arenas said and then continued his lecture.

Once class ended, Professor Arenas dismissed his students, some, including Team BLAC, were in a bit of shock. For hunters to have a prosthetic limb wasn't that rare, so they didn't think much of his arm when they for saw their professor. They had to admit the cybernetic eye and large scar on his face was a bit unusual, but not unheard of. The legs though… something very bad must have happened for him to have three prosthetic limbs and a cybernetic eye.

"What do you think happened to him?" Cyrus asked his team.

"I don't know, but it must have been bad," Bianca said.

"Come on guys, there's no way all that could've happened to him at once, no one could survive getting quartered, even with the healing effects of an Aura," Lucas said.

"Trust me, he did, and it is," a voice from behind Team BLAC said.

When Team BLAC turned, they saw their Grimm Studies teacher, Professor Coventina.

"I need to speak with Ms. Xiao Long, and Mr. Lucas Grey, follow me to my office please," she said.

Alyssa and Lucas separated from their teammates and followed Professor Coventina.

"What do you think she wants with them?" Cyrus asked his partner.

"No clue, but it can't be good," Bianca replied.

After arriving at her office, Alyssa and Lucas were sitting in a rather awkward silence for a few minutes as Professor Coventina sat with her feet up on her desk, twirling one of her throwing needles between her fingers.

"Um… what did you want to talk to us about?" Alyssa asked, attempting to break the silence.

Professor Coventina stopped twirling her throwing needle and looked to the two students sitting in front of her. Without looking away from them, she then tossed her needle at a dart board set up in her office, getting a bullseye. She then pulled her feet off her desk and leaned forward at the two students.

"You two aren't doing very good in my class," she stated bluntly.

"I'm sorry professor, but your material is just a bit difficult to grasp," Alyssa said.

"If you ask me the class is kinda pointless, all it is discussing theories about the Grimm and talking about what little we already know," Lucas said.

Professor Coventina leaned back from her forward position and crossed her arms.

"I'll admit, the material can be a bit difficult, but not if you payed attention in class, I've seen you two… Alyssa you're almost always dozing off during my lectures… and Lucas, you're never paying attention at all, you just lounge back in your chair without a care in the world," she said sternly.

Professor Coventina then stood from her seat and walked around to the front of her desk and sat on it, getting closer to Alyssa and Lucas.

"You two remind me of myself when I was here," she said softly.

"Excuse me?" Alyssa Inquired.

"Do you want to know what happened to Professor Arenas?" Professor Coventina asked.

"Um… I mean, kinda," Lucas said.

"What happened to him was my fault… It was ten years ago…"

Before Oscar Pine became Headmaster, Glenda Goodwitch worked as Headmistress of Beacon, being chosen for the position by the Vale Council. Oscar was final personal assistant she had during her tenure, much like she had been for her predecessor, Professor Ozpin. Blake Belladonna and Lie Ren had yet to become professors and were still working as fulltime hunters. Calypso Coventina and Adrián Arenas were a part of that year's graduating class, the class of 94 V.E.

Calypso and Adrián were a part of the same team, together with their respective partners Azhar Nabeel, and Yale Carter, together they formed Team CYAN, which was led by Calypso.

Adrián Arenas hadn't yet gotten any of his prosthetics, nor did he have the scar across his face and the Calavera Skull tattoo he possessed was located on his right forearm, rather than his left.

Azhar hailed from Vacuo, he possessed lightly tanned skin, green eyes, an athletic build, he had very short buzzcut black hair, and was as tall as Calypso, by their fourth year he had developed a scruffy five o'clock shadow beard. His outfit consisted of a green and gold checkerboard head scarf, a green sleeveless shirt, white sirwal pants, and gold fingerless gloves. He fought with a chakram that could be split apart and transformed into a pair of dust powered energy blasters, he called it 'Saladin'.

Yale hailed from Atlas, he had pale white skin, purple eyes, a muscular build like Adrián, but he was a few inches taller than him, he possessed light brown hair cut into a military flat top. His outfit consisted of some quite advanced Atlesian tech, it was basically a blue version of the armor worn by Atlesian soldiers, however he didn't wear the helmet, instead opting for a visor worn like a pair of sunglasses. He fought with a semi-automatic marksman rifle, he called it 'Noble', unlike most it didn't possess a secondary mode, so Yale carried a combat knife strapped to his left shoulder as a secondary weapon.

The outfits Calypso and Adrián wore in their youth were nearly identical to the outfits they wear in their times as professors, the only differences were that Calypso wore a keyhole sweater instead of a long-sleeved blouse and Adrián wore a black dress shirt under his vest instead of a white one.

"Wahoo! We're finally hunters!" Calypso exclaimed as she and her team celebrated with a nice dinner.

The previous day had been their graduation, they spent the time after it with their families, and they wanted to take today to hang out with each other.

"Says the team leader who barely passed her classes," Azhar joked.

"Hey, that doesn't matter now, I managed to graduate, and now I'm a fully. Fledged. Huntress," Calypso said with a bit of sass.

"Should we tell them now?" Yale asked Adrián.

"Tell us what?" Azhar inquired.

"Yea, what's up guys?" Calypso asked.

Adrián nodded to his partner and Yale raised his hand above the table they were sitting at, he was wearing a rather ornate ring with a large diamond on it.

It took Calypso and Azhar a second to process what they had just seen, but it soon hit them.

Azhar was in the middle of a drink when he came to the realization and spit it out comically as he choked a bit, he barely missed hitting Yale with his spat-out soda.

"D'aww, congratulations guys," Calypso said.

"Adrián proposed last night after graduation, he did it where we first ran into each other, the edge of Beacon cliff," Yale said.

"Nice, guys, so when's the wedding?" Azhar asked.

"We're planning it for a month from now, but it's a bit early to know for sure," Adrián said.

"We've gotta celebrate this news," Azhar said as he began to think to himself.

"Aren't we already celebrating though?" Yale inquired.

"This is for our graduation, not this new news," Azhar retorted.

"Oh, I know! Since we're now hunters, what better way to celebrate than a hunt in an exotic location," Calypso said.

"I'm okay with that," Yale said.

"Same," Adrián stated.

"When though?" Azhar asked.

"After the wedding of course," Calypso stated.

After Adrián and Yale's wedding, Calypso looked for jobs outside of Vale, after a few days of going through requests she settled on a mission in Mistral. The job stated a village needed evacuation and that more than one huntsman would be needed. 'what a perfect job for a team,' she thought to herself, ignoring the fact that it said there was an abnormally large amount of Grimm in the area.

Team CYAN soon headed out to Mistral for their mission, when they arrived, they were notified that they would be working alongside a full company of soldiers from the Mistralese Self Defense Forces, about one hundred and fifty soldiers in all. This would not be an easy job.

"Are you sure you and your team can handle this," the MSDF Company Commander asked Calypso as they flew into the village on Mistralese airships.

"Trust me Commander, my team can handle anything," Calypso said reassuringly.

The small airships the soldiers and Team CYAN rode on were escorting much larger transport airships because the village was quite large, almost two thousand people needed to be evacuated before a Grimm horde coming from the north swept it away.

"Hey Cal, are you sure about this, I mean, a Grimm horde this size hasn't been seen since the Battle of Beacon," Azhar said.

"We'll be fine Az, we're not fighting the whole thing, just helping the soldiers hold it off for a while, whilst the civilians evacuate, we'll be in and out quick," Calypso replied reassuringly.

The transports arrived at the village, the soldiers were dropped in and took up defensive positions around the perimeter of the village just outside its walls, the company commander along with a single squad headed up the evacuation procedures. Team CYAN took their positions at the northern gate, they would take the brunt of the Grimm assault.

The village was around a quarter of the way evacuated when the first wave of Grimm arrived. The soldiers opened fire on the beasts when they got close, their lines held strong.

Azhar and Yale opened fire on a pack of Beowolves as they charged the gate they were defending, Calypso and Adrián counter charged them.

As she got close, Calypso jumped in the air and released throwing needles from her vambraces, Talon, into the heads of a couple of the beasts.

Adrián wielded his giant great sword, Espada, with the great skill and speed as he hacked down one Beowolf after another.

Calypso landed in the middle of a few Beowolves, as they swiped at her she switched from her throwing needles to a pair of retractable daggers she kept in Talon, and cut down the beasts with ease.

Some of the beasts had gotten past Calypso and Adrián and headed straight for Yale and Azhar.

Yale continued to gun down the beasts as Azhar combined his blasters back into their chakram form and engaged in melee with the beasts.

Azhar flipped and spun around the beasts as he struck them with his chakram, he was almost break dancing around them.

A Beowolf managed to flank Yale, but it didn't get in a single hit, Yale smacked the beast with the butt of his weapon, and then stabbed it in the face with his combat knife.

Team CYAN dispatched the first few waves of Grimm with ease, after a couple hours of fighting had passed, the last of the civilians were evacuated and the soldiers got the word to pull out of the village.

Calypso's scroll rang, it was the company commander, "Team CYAN, it's time to go," he said.

"Roger that," Calypso replied and then put her scroll away.

"Time to go guys!" She yelled.

Team CYAN made a fighting retreat into the village and shut the gate behind them.

As they headed for the village center, something large began banging on the gate, suddenly a Goliath charge through it and at Team CYAN.

Yale grabbed the beast's trunk as it ran passed them, he climbed onto its head and started firing his rifle into its neck.

After a few moments of this the beast collapsed and Yale leapt from its dead, now evaporating, body.

Team CYAN continued to run to the village center, being pursued by all manner of Grimm the entire way.

As they rounded the corner of a street they could see the last small transport waiting for them, the company commander was beckoning them to hurry and a few soldiers began laying down cover fire for them.

Then it happened… four Beringels jumped onto the transport and destroyed it, killing themselves, the company commander, and the soldiers in the process.

"No, no, no! That was our ride!" Azhar yelled.

"¡Mierda!" Adrián shouted.

Calypso pulled out her scroll to call for evac, but found she had lost the signal.

"God dammit, no signal," she said.

"Cal, what do we do?" Yale asked.

Calypso looked up from her scroll to see her teammates looking to her for leadership.

"We fight," she said.

Team CYAN found themselves surrounded by all types of Grimm, from Beowolves to King Taijitus to Goliaths and there were more on the way.

Team CYAN charged out in all directions, taking down attacking Grimm the whole time.

Azhar threw his chakram at a Beringel, decapitating it, it then bounced off a wall before decapitating a Beowolf and then returning to him.

Yale and Adrián found themselves fighting back to back against an onslaught of Creeps, their teamwork kept them alive for the time being.

Calypso charged a King Taijitu and threw her needles at it, causing it to rear back in pain, she then jumped onto it and surfed down its back as she cut into it with one of her daggers.

She killed the first head, but the second head caught her by surprise and knocked her down, it hit her hard enough to shatter her aura.

Azhar ran in and took down the second head, saving his partner, he helped her up and they tried to link back up with Yale and Adrián.

As they did, they heard a blood curdling scream from Adrián, they stopped for a moment and were ambushed by an Alpha Beowolf.

Azhar took the hit and his aura was shattered, Calypso managed to kill the beast, but she took a bad wound to her side from the beast's claws.

They then found themselves being set upon by more Beowolves.

"Cal, get outta here, find Yale and Adrián, I'll distract em'," Azhar said.

"Azhar, you can't, we have to get outta here together!" Calypso shot back.

"We won't get away, they're too fast and you're too badly injured, now get outta here!"  
Azhar shouted at his teammate.

Calypso begrudgingly ran from her partner towards the sound of the scream, she was limping slightly and clutching her side.

"Who knew it would end like this," Azhar said as he presented his blasters to the pack of Beowolves.

As Calypso ran she heard the sound of Azhar's blasters firing, followed by his voice.

"Come one you bastards, let's fuckin' go!" He shouted.

The sound of a few pained Beowolf roars was followed by a series of bloodcurdling screams from Azhar.

Calypso had found that Yale and Adrián were no longer in the village center, so she ran through the town desperately looking for them. She began to cry as she ran, believing her team to be dead, she headed around a street corner only to see a group of three Beowolves heading down it in her direction.

Calypso quickly ducked back around the corner in the hopes that they didn't see her, as they got close she took a deep breath, held it, and activated her semblance, optical camouflage, becoming physically invisible to the beasts.

Two of the Beowolves ran past her, but the third stopped for a moment, sensing Calypso's fear, it investigated near where she was hiding, getting so close to Calypso that she could feel it's breath on her face.

After a few tense moments of investigation, the beast headed off to rejoin its pack, and Calypso breathed a sigh of relief and deactivated her semblance.

As she ran down the road the Beowolves were coming from, she passed by a house and Yale called out to her to get inside, she quickly did so.

"Where's Azhar?" Yale asked.

Calypso didn't respond, she had a look full of dread and fear on her face.

"Cal! Where is Azhar!?" Yale said urgently as he shook his team leader out of her daze.

"Az… Azhar is dead…" she said in a soft shock, "where's Adrián?" she continued softly.

Yale moved to the side to reveal Adrián's broken body, his right arm had been ripped off at the shoulder, both his legs were gone from just above the knee down, and the left side of his face had deep claw marks in it, his eye on that side was gone. Yale had hastily bandaged his wounds when they hid to try and keep him alive.

"Listen to me Cal, I can't carry him any further, a Beowolf slashed my thigh as I got in here, I can barely walk, you have to get Adrián out for me, please…"

Alyssa and Lucas were in shock after hearing Professor Coventina's story, they didn't know what to say.

"I got Adrián out of that village, but Yale stayed behind… I went back a few days later with some soldiers of the MSDF, we found what was left of Azhar… god, I can still hear his screams…" she said with a shiver, "we packed him up and then went looking for Yale, he was in the back of the house I left him in, his body was mangled to say the least, his knife and rifle were lying next to his body, I could only assume he took a few of those beasts with him," Calypso continued somberly.

"No disrespect professor, but what does this have to do with doing bad in class?" Alyssa asked.

Professor Coventina took a deep breath before continuing to speak, "Like you two, I didn't pay much attention in class, particularly Grimm Studies, I believed the class to be pointless as well, because of that I failed to recognize the threat of such a large Grimm horde, especially to novice hunters like myself and my team… I led two of my teammates to their deaths and a third to be permanently scared," she said somberly, "A while after that incident I reenrolled here at Beacon, retook Grimm Studies, and got a master's degree in the subject, so I could teach students like yourselves and help them avoid making the same mistakes I did," she continued.

Alyssa and Lucas sat in a stupor as they pondered what Professor Coventina had just told them, even though neither one were their team's leader, they started to think, what if they got their teammates killed on a mission, how would they live with themselves.

"If you two have nothing to say, you may go," Professor Coventina said.

As they exited her office, Professor Coventina took another deep breath as a tear ran down her cheek, "I think I might take Ember up on that offer for a drink," she said.

Alyssa and Lucas headed off to their combat class, the talk Professor Coventina had given them began to cycle through their thoughts, it gave them a new outlook on their time here at Beacon.

The two of them arrived in their combat class and were greeted by their teammates and Team AYST.

"So, what'd Professor Coventina want to talk to you guys about?" Cyrus asked.

"We'll tell you guys after class, it's a long story," Alyssa replied softly.

Professor Haze walked into the classroom and up to the console, she then activated it, cycling the pictures of the students for a moment before landing on Lucas and Ebony's pictures.

"Okay, first match is Ebony Tacari and Lucas Grey," Professor Haze announced.

Ebony and Lucas made their wat to the combat stage and took their places at opposite ends of it.

"You two know the rules," Ember stated and then signaled the start of the fight.

Ebony raised her rail sniper and fired a shot at Lucas, whom quickly dodged by leaping into the air with the help of one of his glyphs.

Lucas drew and combined his katana and tanto, forming Masamune's bow form, he then fired an arrow of fire dust at Ebony.

Ebony fired another round from Artemis, it collided with Lucas' arrow, causing a spectacular midair explosion.

Lucas landed back on the ground and separated Masamune into its separate sword and tanto forms, he then sheathed the tanto half and grasp the katana half with both hands.

Ebony switched Artemis to its battle-axe form and charged Lucas.

The two exchanged blows, blocks, and parries for a few moments, lowering each other's Aura in the process.

Ebony caught Lucas with and uppercut from Artemis and sent him flying into the air.

Lucas composed himself and placed a glyph under his feet to give himself something to push himself off of.

Lucas shot off the glyph like a bullet fired from a gun and slashed Ebony in the chest, dropping her Aura near the red zone.

Ebony switch Artemis back to its rail sniper form and fried a few rounds at Lucas, hitting him with one of them and sending his aura dangerously close to the red zone, she then switched her weapon back to its battle-axe form.

The two charged each other once more to end the fight, they struck one another with powerful strikes from their respective weapons and sent both their Auras into the red zone.

"Huh, that's a first," Professor Haze said in surprise.

Professor Haze walked to the center of the stage to call the fight, "and for the first time this year, we have a draw," she announced.

"Good fight," Ebony said to Lucas as the two exchanged a fist bump.

No one else from Teams BLAC or AYST were selected to fight for the rest of the class, so they had to sit and observe the rest of the day's matches between the different students. After class ended, Teams BLAC and AYST headed off to their normal hangout spot in Beacon's central park. They talked, laughed, and joked for quite a while.

"And then I was like…" Ebony paused and dropped her sunglasses over her eyes, with a quick twitch of her eyebrows, "deal with it," she said.

Team BLAC and the rest of Team AYST broke out into laughter at the punchline of Ebony's joke.

"Oh, that's a good one Eb," Alyssa said as she wiped a tear from her eye and ceased her laughter.

"Hey, Alani, weren't gonna tell us how you and Yin met?" Bianca asked.

"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot," Alani said as she lightly smacked herself on the forehead, "hey babe, you mind starting it off," she asked Yin.

"I do not mind," Yin said as he leaned forward from his sitting position on the bench that was hanging from the tree Teams BLAC and AYST were sitting around.

"My family is not from the Southern Isles, as I have told all of you already, my father moved us out of Mistral to Vacuo when I was only a few weeks old, as it was not a very good time to live there as a faunus, we lived around the area of Shade Academy for a few years, one day my father got called away for a hunt in the Southern Isles, a large pack of Grimm had been sighted there for the first time in almost a millennia so the local warriors didn't know how to deal with them and they had no hunters to solve the issue, so they called upon my father and two others, a Yang Xiao Long and Nebula Violette I believe they were called," Yin said.

"Oh, your dad was Bai Okami, I remember my mom telling me about him, she said he was one of the best hunters she had ever seen," Alyssa said.

"I'm sure my father would be happy to hear that, tell your mother I said, 'thank you'," Yin replied.

"Will do," Alyssa stated.

"Anyway, back to the story, after helping out the locals with their Grimm problem, the son of the Chieftain of Kamehameha Island at the time, Akamu Kamehameha, who is now the current chieftain and also the father of Alani, invited all three hunters to a feast, at said feast my father saw the true beauty of the islands, the people may be great and fierce warriors, but he saw that they were also some of the kindest people he had ever had the pleasure to meet and both humans and faunus lived together in perfect harmony, after that he asked the chieftain for permission to move to the island with myself and my mother, having seen my father's skills in battle, Akamu vouched for him and he was allowed to move there," Yin said and then looked to Alani to take over the story.

"Yin and I first met when I began my warrior training at the age of six, Yin's father being a hunter had been asked by my grandfather and father to help train our warriors, both current and upcoming, to fight Grimm if they were to ever return, he brought Yin to one of these training sessions, he would try and mimic what his father was teaching us, it was really cute actually," this last part Alani said with a light laugh and then continued speaking, "as we grew up, we became sparring partners, he won't admit it, but I beat him more times than he did me, soon, I became the youngest person on my people's history to be initiated as a warrior, I became so at sixteen, most don't complete their training till they are almost eighteen or nineteen, that's how I got my tattoo, it's a tradition among my people, Yin and I remained close friends and over time I fell for him, however I could never tell him because honestly I was afraid it would kill our friendship…"

"So, when did you tell him?" Bianca asked.

"I'm getting to that," Alani replied, "After about a year, I decided I wanted to be more than a simple tribal warrior and decided to become a huntress, Yin had wanted to become a huntsmen since he was a boy, he wanted to be like his father, he was always talking about it, I made my announcement on my father's coronation day and was met with resounding approval for my decision, both Yin and I applied for all the hunter academies, but decided to attend Beacon in the end, mainly because we wanted to stay together as friends, but also because, to be honest, I've heard Vale's beaches are perfect for surfing, so that was another factor," Alani continued.

"You sure do love to surf," Yin cut in with a light smile.

"That would explain the surf boards I saw you carrying when your ship landed," Bianca said.

"So, the night before we were set to leave, Yin told me to meet him on the beach, he wanted to talk to me, I was a bit nervous to say the least, I didn't know what he was going to tell me, but then when we started talking, he said that during our time as friends he had developed feelings for me but he didn't know how to tell me, it took me by a shock, this guy that I had a crush on for quite a while also liked me, needless to say I started bawling on the spot and told him how I felt too, the next day I… we told both my and Yin's parents and we were met with approval, although my father had to rough Yin up a bit, you know how it is, and we've been together ever since," Alani said and then nuzzled up to Yin, who in turn put his arm around her.

"D'aww, that's so romantic," Alyss said,

"Yeah, that is pretty romantic," Bianca said as she quickly glanced over at Cyrus and blushed slightly.

Alani noticed Bianca's action and chuckled lightly.

"What is so funny?" Yin asked.

"Nothin' babe," Alani replied.

"Hey Alani, I've been meaning to ask this, about a week ago in our history class, Professor Arenas said that the chiefdoms of the Southern Isles were founded over a millennium ago, and have persisted ever since, I was wondering, do your people not have a color naming tradition?" Cyrus asked.

"Oh, no, we do, some of our warriors fought as mercenaries for Vale and Vacuo during the Great War, when they returned they had either adopted color names or began naming their children after colors and it eventually spread throughout the islands, why do you ask?" Alani replied.

"I was just wondering because I looked up the meanings of the names of the islands and of each one's royal family and only one, Keoua, is even slightly related to color," Cyrus stated.

"Well, as you said, they are the names of places, but they are also royal names, members of the royal family don't take the actual name of the family until they come of age, which is signified by becoming a warrior, Kamehameha isn't my actual given surname, it's actually Kapua, which mean's 'flower', I've just gone by 'Alani Kamehameha' instead of 'Alani Kapua' since I came of age, besides 'Alani Kapua Kamehameha' is kind of a mouthful," Alani said.

"Okay then, that's actually kinda cool," Cyrus said.

"I'm glad you think so," Alani said with a smile.

"So, Al, are you next in line to become Chieftain since your dad is the current Chieftain of your island?" Alyssa asked.

"No, I'm not, my older sister Haukea is, followed by my brothers, Akamu Jr., Kaimana, Kalani, and Keahi, in that order, after them, then it would fall to me," Alani stated.

"Wow, four brothers, that has to be a pain, one is enough for me," Alyssa said.

Alani giggled lightly, "actually, I have three more brothers, Keanu, Koa, and Lei, all are younger than me," Alani said.

"Damn," Alyssa replied with a dumbstruck tone.

"Of all of em' Kaimana was the craziest, ma na akua… by the gods, he was a wild child," Alani remembered fondly.

Team BLAC and the rest of Team AYST laughed lightly at what Alani had to say about her brother.

"No seriously, he tried to surf on the back of a shark… more than once, I mean, who does that?" Alani asked rhetorically with a laugh.

"Who would do that in the first place?" Ebony asked between laughs.

"I know, right," Alani stated with a laugh.

As the students at Beacon settled down for the day, some of the professors did the same, those that didn't live on campus, like Blake Belladonna and Lie Ren, went home for the day, others went out for a relaxing evening. Calypso Coventina went out to have a drink with Ember Haze, something that Ember had offered to Calypso on multiple occasions before in order to 'loosen her up'; In Ember's eyes, Calypso was a bit too up tight.

Ember and Calypso downed a shot of fine bourbon together at the same bar where a week prior Ember had won a fight against three large men, all of whom were in the bar tonight, but none of the men messed with either of them.

A large burly biker walked up from behind Ember and Calypso and sat in the barstool next to them, "You Ember?" He asked.

"Who wants to know?" Ember replied.

"I heard you're pretty good at holding your liquor, I consider myself a pretty heavy drinker, I wanted to challenge you to a game of shots," he said while flaunting a large wad of cash.

Ember looked over at Calypso, "I'll be right back," she said with a large grin on her face.

Calypso smiled and gave Ember a chuckle as she headed off to take on this poor sucker in a drinking game.

"He has no idea what he's getting into," Calypso said to herself.

As Ember made her way over to the table, the biker's associates were gathered around, the door of the bar creaked open, and in walked Adrián Arenas.

As he entered the bar, a rather scantily clad woman walked up to him and began trying to flirt with him, "some people say I cost an arm and a leg, but for you…" she paused as she looked Adrián up and down, "…maybe just the arm," she said flirtatiously.

"Sorry to disappoint you mamí, but I play for the other team," Adrián said and then walked away from the woman.

The woman pouted a little before going about her business trying to pick up a 'date'.

Adrián walked up to Calypso and sat in the seat that Ember was once sitting in.

"What's up Adrián?" Calypso asked.

"You know what's up mi amiga," he replied with a semi-serious tone.

Calypso took another shot of bourbon before responding, "and that would be?" she inquired.

"Cal, quite playing dumb, you only drink when you're upset about something," Adrián said with concern in his voice.

Calypso took a deep breath before responding, "you know Alyssa Xiao Long and Lucas Grey, right?" she asked softly.

"Sí, I have em' and their teammates in my third period history class, those two aren't my best students, but they're passing, if only just," Adrián replied.

"Same… they remind me of myself," Calypso said softly.

"So, that's what this is about, you're thinking about that mission aren't you?" Adrián stated softly.

"Yeah… I told them, about it," Calypso replied somberly.

"Cal, how many times have I told you, I don't blame you for what happened," Adrián said softly as he placed his robotic hand on Calypso's back.

"Why not though… I got my best friend killed, your husband killed, and you… well, look at yourself," Calypso said somberly as she began to cry lightly.

"Cal, none of us knew that the mission would go south, not Azhar, not Yale, nor you or me," Adrián said comfortingly.

"But I was our leader, it was my call, I could've chosen a hundred other missions, but I chose that one, what a stupid choice," Calypso said as she sank her head to lie on the bar top.

"Oye chica, it happened, there is nothing we can do about it now, we can't dwell on the past, it's not healthy, it took me a while to get used to the prosthetics, and even longer to get over Yale's death, you saw how much of a mess I was, but I learned to cope and not for a second did I ever blame you, and I know if Yale or Azhar were in my position, they'd be the same way and saying the same thing," Adrián said sternly, yet reassuringly.

"Come on Blaze! You can do it!" One of the men standing around Ember and the burly biker who challenged her shouted.

Adrián and Calypso turned to see what all the commotion was about.

Ember was lounging in her chair pinching a shot of tequila by the rim between her index finger, middle finger, and thumb, swirling it lightly with a confidently smug smile on her face. In front of her was at least fifteen empty shot glasses flipped upside-down on the table.

Her challenger was visibly shaking as he picked up his fifteenth shot, he raised it to his lips and took the shot, but as he swallowed the last drop of tequila, he fell out of his seat and passed out on the ground.

"Wahoo! Still undefeated!" Ember exclaimed as she drank her last shot and then grabbed the wad of cash off the table.

The bikers that surrounded her and the man were more than a little upset, they believed that Ember had somehow cheated, they moved to try and jump her, when the guys she had clobbered the previous week called out to them.

"Hey, guys, take it from us, you don't wanna do that," the man she threw through the window said.

The bikers looked back to Ember who had a confident look about her face and was popping her knuckles, neck, and shoulders, they immediately backed down.

"You know who Ember reminds me of from back in the day," Adrián said.

"Who?" Calypso inquired.

Adrián chuckled lightly for a moment, "you," he said.

"I was nothing like Ember back then," Calypso shot back.

"Oh, yes you were, you may not have gotten as drunk as her, or at all really, but you were always itching for a good fight and so sure of yourself," Adrián said with a smile.

Calypso let out a light laugh, "I guess you're right," she said.

Ember walked over to where Calypso and Adrián were sitting, she had that telltale drunken sway with her walk.

"Hey Adrián, when'd you get here," Ember asked.

"Hola, Ember, a few minutes ago, how'd your game go?" Adrián asked.

"Pfft, that guy was the easiest I've taken on so far," Ember boasted as she took a seat next to Adrián and Calypso.

The three professors spent a couple more hours at the bar, Adrián had only gotten a couple of drinks, while Calypso had one more after the two she already had, and Ember was well… Ember.


	8. Legacy

Chapter 8: Legacy

Bianca has so far been one of the top students academically among the first-year students at Beacon, but her skills in combat are leaving something to be desired. Many of the professors are noticeably disappointed with her shortcomings in combat against her fellow students and some of the students have begun to look down on her, making fun of her, and saying she'll never live up to her mothers' legacies. Her combat professor Ember Haze however had taken a bit of pity on her.

In combat class, Bianca was fighting Apollo Stone, the person whom a couple of weeks ago was quite quickly defeated by Alani in a match. Bianca's aura was nearing the red zone, while Apollos was barely scratched.

Bianca combined Summer and Winter to form her scythe, after she did this she charged Apollo with her semblance, leaving a trail of white rose petals in her wake.

Apollo quickly side stepped Bianca and caught her on the neck with a clothesline from his forearm, dropping her to the ground instantly.

Before Bianca could pull herself off the ground, Apollo stood over her and dealt the final blow with a punch to her face, dropping her aura into the red.

"Okay, that's enough, Apollo Stone wins," Professor Haze announced.

"Why are you even here?" Apollo asked Bianca with disdain as he walked off the stage.

Bianca slowly pulled herself off the ground as Professor Haze walked over to her.

"Bianca, are you ok? Do you need to go to the infirmary?" Professor Haze asked.

"No, I'm fine professor," Bianca said as she pulled herself off the ground, her voice contained a bit of pain in it as she spoke, both physical and emotional.

Bianca headed back to sit among her teammates and friends, she had a saddened look on her face, like something was bothering her, eating away at her.

"Bianca, you okay?" Alani asked, but received no answer.

"Hey, B, is something wrong?" Alyssa asked with concern, but she too received the same silent treatment.

"Okay, the final match of the day is Cyrus Grey and Oliver White," Professor Haze announced.

Oliver White was Apollo Stone's partner, he wasn't the greatest fighter in the class, but he had been one of the students to beat Bianca, because of this he held a low opinion of her. He didn't really talk much, not at all really. He normally wore a silver track suit and he fought with a pistol that transformed into a large kukri sword.

Cyrus looked at his partner as he walked past, she was looking down to the floor, normally she would be the first person to wish him luck in a match, but she said nothing this time, something was off about her.

Cyrus won his match against Oliver in spectacular fashion, his opponent had not landed a single hit on him. Cyrus was proving to be one of the top students among all the first year combat classes, let alone Professor Haze's classes, he was among three undefeated students in his class. The other two undefeated students were Alani Kamehameha, who was unbeaten and untied, and Ebony Tacari, who had one tie and no losses, of Team AYST, through sheer chance, they had not been chosen to face off against one another… yet.

After Cyrus' match concluded, Professor Haze dismissed the class for the day, however as Team BLAC was making their way out of the room, she called out to them.

"Bianca, I'd like to speak with you momentarily," Professor Haze said.

Without saying a word to her teammates, Bianca went back into the combat classroom, garnering concerned looks from her teammates and the members of Team AYST.

"Alyssa, is your cousin gonna be ok?" Ebony asked.

"I don't know, but you guys go on ahead, I'll wait for her here," Alyssa said.

"No, I know you two are family, but as her partner, I should be the one to wait for her, you go on with everyone," Cyrus stated.

Alyssa gave Cyrus a nod of approval and headed off to the locker room with Lucas and Team AYST.

As Cyrus waited outside of the classroom for Bianca, she was beginning her talk with Professor Haze.

"What did you want to talk to me about professor?" Bianca asked as she walked up to Professor Haze who was leaning on the short wall that separated the seats form the eight foot drop to the combat stage.

"Bianca, please sit down," Professor Haze said as she motioned her hand towards the seat in front of herself.

Bianca sat down as Professor Haze took a drink from her calabash and sat next to her.

"I assume you already know, but you're not doing too well in my class, you haven't won a single match since your first week and most of those you've lost haven't been close… at all," Professor Haze said sternly, yet softly as well.

"Oh, well sorry to disappoint you," Bianca said somberly.

"Hey, sorry I didn't mean it like that, I just want to know if everything is ok, is there something on your mind, I can tell you haven't been all there the last few weeks," Professor Haze said with concern in her voice.

"No, nothing in particular is on my mind," Bianca responded quietly.

"Are you sure? You know I just want to help, right?" Professor Haze inquired.

"Yes, I'm sure," Bianca said a bit aggressively and then got up and left the room.

Professor Haze let out a light sigh and shook her head in disappointment, she followed this by taking another swig of the contents of her calabash.

Cyrus had made himself comfortable on the floor next to the door of the classroom, he was sitting against the wall next to the door, with one leg extended out in front of him, and the other bent with his arm resting on his knee cap.

When Bianca walked through the doors, Cyrus jumped up quickly to talk to her, when he did, he saw she still looked like something was bothering her.

"Something the matter Bianca?" Cyrus asked as the two of them began walking down to the locker room.

"No," Bianca stated bluntly.

Cyrus stopped abruptly as Bianca continued down the hall, flipping her white hood onto her head as she did so, he was a bit surprised at his partner's sudden personality flip, what happened to the upbeat and slightly shy girl he had known for the past month and a half.

He jogged back up to her, when he caught up to her, when he did, he tried to reinitiate the conversation, but to no avail and the two continued to walk to the locker room in silence.

"Hey, Bianca, if this downer attitude you have is about not being able to win a match, then quit pouting, this stuff happens," Cyrus said sternly as he and Bianca entered the locker room.

Bianca stopped, she kept her head covered by her hood and her face pointed towards the ground, "easy for you to say," she said softly and then walked away from her partner.

The next few of days were more of the same, Bianca wouldn't talk to her teammates or friends when they reached out to her. Also, her grades in her academic classes had begun to slip as she just seemed tired and irritable all the time now. On top of those things however, some members of the student body had begun to ridicule her very harshly, the person leading this was Apollo Stone.

In their Grimm Studies class, Professor Coventina was giving a lecture about the weak points located in different types of Grimm's armor, she was currently talking about those located in a Death Stalker's armor.

"There are a few weak spots in a Death Stalker's armor, can anyone tell me what they are?" Professor Coventina stated.

None of her students raised their hand to answer so she randomly called on a student in class, her gaze landed on Bianca who uncharacteristically was dozing off in class.

"Ms. Rose," Professor Coventina said loudly, startling Bianca.

"Huh! What?" Bianca said as she jumped out of her nap.

"Ms. Rose, please, tell the class where the weak points of a Death Stalker's armor are located," Professor Coventina stated.

"Um… it's legs…" Bianca guessed.

Professor Coventina sighed in disappointment, "No, Ms. Rose, if you had done your homework, you would know that the weak points in a Death Stalker's armor are its eyes, and the gaps in its segmented back armor," Professor Coventina stated.

Some of the students began to lightly chuckle at Bianca, gaining angry looks from the rest of Team BLAC.

"Professor Coventina may I be excused, I need to use the restroom," Bianca stated softly.

"Very well, but hurry back," Professor Coventina replied.

Bianca got up from her seat and proceeded to the room's exit, when she opened the door, she flipped her hood onto her head and exited the room. Her teammates had looks of concern on their faces, but as they were in the middle of class there wasn't much they could do, they would have to wait for her to return.

Bianca walked down the hallway of Beacon's lecture hall on her way to the restroom. She turned a corner only to be met by Apollo and his partner Oliver, they either had an off period and were just hanging out, or they were cutting class, knowing them it was probably the latter.

Bianca tried to make her way past without them noticing, but it was all for not, as she passed by them, Apollo called out to her.

"Well if it isn't the pruned Rose," he said mockingly.

Bianca tried to ignore him as she walked, but Oliver stepped in her way and Apollo grabbed her by the shoulder.

"I didn't say you could leave," Apollo said as he turned Bianca towards himself.

"Please, just leave me alone," Bianca requested quietly.

Apollo's gaze landed upon Bianca's pin that held up her cloak, every time he saw her, she always had it on, he figured it must've been important to her.

"I see you're always wearing this same pin on your cloak, what's that about?" Apollo asked condescendingly.

"Please, leave me alo…" Bianca said, but was cut off.

"Hey! When I ask you a question, you answer," Apollo said loudly and aggressively.

"It… it's both my mothers' emblems overlain on each other," Bianca said quietly as a tear began to drop from her eye.

"Oh… well in that case, you don't deserve to wear it," Apollo said.

"Excuse me?" Bianca asked in a bewildered tone.

"You're not good enough to call yourself a Rose, or a Schnee, so I don't see why you deserve to wear either of their emblems," Apollo said passive-aggressively.

Apollo then went to grab Bianca's pin that held on her cloak, she clutched her pin and pulled quickly away before he could get ahold of it.

"Oliver," Apollo said.

Without hesitating, Oliver grabbed Bianca and restrained her arms, he was significantly stronger than her, so all she could do was squirm in vein as she tried to escape.

"What are you doing, let me go!" Bianca shouted.

Apollo grabbed Bianca's pin and began to pull on it, doing this began to rip her cloak.

"No, stop! You're gonna rip my cloak!" She begged and pleaded but to no avail.

With one swift tug, Apollo ripped the pin from Bianca's cloak.

After the damage had been done, Oliver threw Bianca to the ground forcefully as her ripped cloak fell from her body.

Bianca had begun to bawl on the ground as Apollo and Oliver stood over her and laughed.

As Bianca lay on the ground Apollo kicked her quite forcefully in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

Oliver then followed this up by kicking her in the lower back causing her to let out a loud cry of pain.

The sound of heavy footsteps running down the hall around the corner from where the three of them were at.

When Apollo and Oliver heard these footsteps, they took off running in the opposite direction, dropping Bianca's pin in the process.

The person who the footsteps belonged to was one of Bianca's professor's, Adrián Arenas, when he arrived on the scene, Apollo and Oliver had ducked around a corner to another hall way so they wouldn't be seen.

"Ms. Rose, are you ok?! I heard you screaming," Professor Arenas asked with frantic concern.

As Professor Arenas moved to help up Bianca, she hastily grabbed her ripped cloak and pin off the ground and ran off.

"Ms. Rose wait!" Professor Arenas called out, but to no avail.

As the remaining members of Team BLAC were excused from class a while after Bianca left, they had a lot of concern about them as she had not returned to class.

"Alyssa, she's your cousin, where do you think she went?" Lucas asked.

"I have no idea, maybe the dorms," Alyssa replied.

Cyrus' scroll then began to buzz in his pocket as he had turned his ringer off for class, he pulled it out to see Alani calling him. He answered it and set it to speaker mode.

"What's up Al? You're on speaker by the way," He stated.

"Ok… hey, did something happen in your class?" She inquired.

"Nothing major, why?" Cyrus asked.

"It's just, Yin and I were hanging out in the park and we saw Bianca running towards the dorms, her cloak was all balled up in her arms and she sounded like she was crying," Alani said concernedly.

"What!? When was this?" Cyrus asked loudly.

"Just a second ago," Alani replied.

"Hey, Al, if you and Yin have time, could you check up on her, we're on the other side of campus right now, we'll get there ASAP," Alyssa said.

"Yin and I have to get to class, but Roy and Eb should be getting out right now, their class isn't too far from the dorms, I'll give em' a call," Alani replied.

"Ok, thanks Al," Alyssa said.

Cyrus hung up the call and pocketed his scroll, "come on guys, let's go," he said.

The three of them then headed off to their dorm in a hurried manner, knowing that they would be late for their next class.

Alani had kept her promise and called Ebony and Roy and had them check up on Bianca to see if she was in her dorm.

"Hey Bianca, you in there?" Ebony asked as she knocked on the door, but received no answer.

"Bianca, Alani called us, she said your team wanted to know you were ok," Roy said loud enough to surely be heard through the door.

When they received no answer yet again, they looked at each other with concern on their faces, and then Ebony pressed her ear to the door, all she could hear was the faint sound of muffled crying.

"She's in there," Ebony said.

Roy nodded and pulled out his scroll, he scrolled through his contacts till he came on Cyrus' name.

Cyrus' scroll rang in his pocket as he and his teammates hustled through the academy grounds to their dorm, he had turned his ringer back on after Alani called him.

"Hello?" Cyrus said as he held his scroll up to his ear.

"Hey, it's Roy, she's in her dorm, what do you want us to do?" He asked.

"Just wait there, make sure she doesn't leave, we'll be there shortly," Cyrus replied.

"Right," Roy stated and then hung up the phone.

Roy looked to Ebony, who was wondering what Cyrus had told him, "he said to wait here till they arrive, to make sure she doesn't leave," he said.

"Well, better make ourselves comfortable," Ebony said as she leaned her back against the wall and slid down it till she was sitting on the ground.

Roy leaned his shoulder up against the wall, crossed one of his feet over the other, and placed his hands in his pockets.

Around ten minutes passed before Cyrus, Lucas, and Alyssa arrived at their dorm, Ebony was in the same position she had originally sat in, but Roy was now sitting against the opposite wall from her.

"Hey guys, thanks for waiting," Cyrus said.

"How's she doing, did she say anything?" Lucas asked.

"She didn't say anything, but it sounded like she was crying," Ebony said.

"Yeah, what happened, Alani sounded pretty concerned when she called us," Roy stated.

"We've got no clue," Alyssa said.

"Anyway, thanks for watching over her for us, we'll take it from here," Cyrus said.

"Ok, but… please let us know what's up when you find out," Ebony stated.

"You got it," Cyrus said.

Ebony and Roy then went on their way as Alyssa, Lucas, and Cyrus entered their dorm.

"Bianca… everything ok?" Cyrus asked as they entered.

Bianca was face down in her pillow on her bunk, her cloak and pin were in a pile on the ground next to her, she sniffled and pushed herself away from her pillow and looked to her teammates, her eyes were red, sore from her tears.

Alyssa ran over to her, sensing her sadness, and grasped her in a caring embrace, "B, what happened after you left class?" She asked softly.

"They… they told me I wasn't good enough… they grabbed me, tore my cloak… and threw me to the ground… they said I didn't deserve to wear my emblem," Bianca said between tears.

"Who?" Alyssa asked.

"Ap… Apollo and Oliver," she said.

Alyssa's grip on her cousin tightened slightly, but not much, she could feel her own emotions causing her semblance to flare up, but she worked to control it.

"Did they do anything else to you?" Alyssa asked with concern.

"When… when I was on the ground, they started to kick me," Bianca replied quietly.

Hearing this would've normally set Alyssa off, but she was trying to keep a calm demeanor for her cousin's sake.

Lucas picked up Bianca's cloak and pin, he placed the pin on the bookshelf between their bunks and inspected her cloak. There was quite a large tear where it had been pinned.

"The tear's big, but not bad, it can be fixed easily," Lucas said as he presented the cloak to his brother.

"That doesn't take away from what they did to her," Cyrus said with a light rage in his voice.

"You're right, it doesn't," Lucas replied.

"Hey Alyssa, can you and Lucas let Professor Belladonna know what happened, I'm sure she'll want to know, tell her were gonna miss class next period too, let Team AYST know while you're at it please," Cyrus said.

"Ok, what are you gonna do though?" Alyssa inquired as she stood from Bianca.

"I'll stay here, try to comfort Bianca, let Professor Arenas know why we're not there and you guys are late and let Professor Haze know that we're gonna miss her class too," Cyrus replied.

Alyssa nodded at Cyrus and left the room with Lucas.

Cyrus sat next to Bianca on her bunk, "hey, I'm here for you, let it all out if you want to," Cyrus said softly, trying to help his partner.

Bianca said nothing back to Cyrus, she instead threw her face into his chest and bawled her eyes out on his uniform.

Cyrus wrapped his arms around Bianca in a light embrace, placing one of his hands on her candy cane colored hair as she cried.

As Alyssa and Lucas walked down the hall to Professor Belladonna's classroom, Alyssa was visibly fuming, her eyes were as bright a shade of red as they had ever been and her aura appeared to be flames coming from her long golden hair.

"I swear, if I get my hands on those assholes, I'm gonna rip em' each a new one!" She said aggressively.

"Not if I get to em' first," Lucas replied seriously, "you might wanna calm down by the way, we're getting close to the room," he continued.

"Right," Alyssa said, and then took a few deep breaths, lowering her semblance, and calming herself.

They walked up to Blake's classroom and Lucas peaked his head in, luckily Blake wasn't in the middle of a lecture, she was giving a test to her students.

"Professor Belladonna, your daughter and I need to speak to you for a sec," Lucas said quietly as to not disturb the students.

As Blake got up to leave the room, she looked to her teacher's aide, Electra Azure, who was playing a game on her scroll.

"Keep an eye on em' for me," she said

Electra replied to Blake with a nod.

"Shouldn't you two be in class right now?" Blake asked the two of them as she stepped outside the classroom.

"What we need to tell you is more important," Alyssa said.

"Go on," Blake said while crossing her arms, her interest was piqued, although she had a skeptical look on her face.

Lucas and Alyssa explained the situation to Blake, what had happened to Bianca, the damage to her cloak, all of it, after which Blake's normally calm demeanor looked like it was going to break, but she had barely managed to rein herself in.

"If I wasn't a professor I would probably kill those two," Blake said angrily.

"We feel the same way," Alyssa said.

Blake began to think for a second, "tell ya what, I'll pick up Bianca's cloak after school today, I'll take it home and fix it, from what you told me, it should only take the night," she said.

"I think she'll love to hear that," Alyssa said.

"Ruby and Weiss are gonna want to hear about this too, sooner rather than later," Blake stated.

"Yeah, we'll let em' know, after class" Alyssa said.

Blake walked back into her classroom and shut the door behind her, Alyssa and Lucas then began to walk away, but the door of the classroom quickly reopened and Blake stepped out halfway.

"Tell Bianca and Cyrus they're excused from class and the test next period, I won't count it for them," she said.

Lucas and Alyssa nodded in response to Blake and then headed off to their history class and then make a call to Ruby and Weiss.

Bianca had stopped crying in the time that had past, by now they should've been well into their classical literature class, but she was still silent, Cyrus had not forced her to talk, he would wait for her to start, if she wanted to, her eyes were still red from the irritation of her tears.

Bianca's scroll rang, it was situated on the book shelf next to her bed, when she looked at it to answer it, she saw it was her mother, Ruby, who was calling.

"Hello," she said in a soft tone.

"Hey sweetie, your cousin called us and told us what happened, your mother and I wanted to check up on you," Ruby said calmly.

"Thanks mom, I… I'm doing a little bit better, not much though" Bianca said softly.

"Hang in there sweetie, people like that Apollo kid will get what's coming to them, just know, your mom is really upset about this whole situation," Ruby said.

"You think!" Weiss shouted in the background of the call, "If it wasn't for Alyssa begging us not to do anything rash I'd march down there and string those two ruffians up myself!" She continued loudly.

"Honey, please calm down," Ruby said politely.

"Ugh, I need some air," Weiss said, "how dare they do that to my daughter," she mumbled loudly as the sound of a door opening and then shutting could be heard through the call.

"Anyway, sweetie if there is anything you need, don't hesitate to ask," Ruby said.

"Thanks mom, but I guess I'm ok for right now, I'll talk to you later," Bianca replied softly.

"Ok sweetie, hang in there," Ruby said.

Bianca then hung up the call, after this she leaned up against Cyrus and he wrapped one of his arms around her in a comforting embrace.

"You wanna talk yet?" He asked.

"Not yet, maybe later," Bianca replied quietly.

Cyrus and Bianca missed their last three classes of the day, Alyssa and Lucas explained the situation to their two shared professors after class, both of which were understanding and excused them from being absent. During Combat Class Alyssa and Lucas told Team AYST about what happened since they wanted to know out of concern, when they found out, Yin and Ebony had to rein in Alani and Roy because they were about to jump up from their seats and kill Apollo and Oliver.

Alyssa and Lucas skipped out on hanging out with Team AYST that day and went to comfort their team leader, Blake accompanied them to pick up Bianca's cloak.

That night, Cyrus awoke in a light daze as he saw Bianca leave the room quietly, she had on her normal workout clothes, a red sports bra, white and red sweat pants with shoes to match, she had her white zip up hoodie on over the top of her athleticwear and a towel around her neck.

Cyrus waited for her to leave the room and then quietly got out of bed as to not disturb his teammates. He figured that since she was wearing her work out clothes, she would be heading to the gym above the combat classes, how she would get in, he didn't know. He dressed himself hastily, he already had his black athletic shorts on, so he threw on his long-sleeved white sweater, a pair of socks and a pair of black running shoes he had.

After getting dressed he quietly left the room as Bianca had done earlier. As Cyrus left the building, he could see Bianca walking in the direction of the gym, he made sure to keep his distance while he followed her so she wouldn't spot him.

After a while of walking, Bianca entered the training halls, a key had been left under the doormat by someone for her to get in.

As Cyrus moved to enter the building after his partner, he saw something in the corner of his eye, when he turned to see what it was, he saw a person perched in a tree, Cyrus then noticed it was the same hooded figure that Bianca said had been watching her on their initiation.

Cyrus rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but when he looked back, all he could see was a black shadowy mist where the figure had once been.

Cyrus looked around for a minute before continuing into the training halls to follow his partner. After he entered the building, he proceeded down the hall till he reached the stairs that led to the gym and firing range on the second floor.

As Cyrus reached the top of the stairs, he saw the door to the gym was propped open by a box with Bianca's hoodie lying on it, and the light was on, when he walked up to it he saw Bianca inside training with a pair of synthetic sabers that resembled her weapons, Summer and Winter.

Bianca was weaving the sabers around each other, her arms, and her body, her circular movements made her look like she was dancing and the pair of sabers were her partner.

"You know, that doesn't look like Atlesian Saber Fencing," Cyrus remarked as he leaned on the propped open door.

Bianca was startled by Cyrus' appearance, causing her to break concentration and cease weaving her weapons.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Just checking up on my partner," Cyrus replied as he entered the room, "Is this why you've been slacking on your school work and falling asleep in class the last few days, these late-night training sessions, who even let you in here?" he inquired.

"If I'm to hold up my parents' legacy, I need to get stronger," Bianca stated bluntly.

"Wait a minute, your parents' legacy… Didn't you tell me that your parents never held their accomplishments over you?" Cyrus asked.

"True, they don't, but other people do," Bianca replied sharply.

"Who cares what other people think, they don't matter for shit, your name isn't Ruby, your name isn't Weiss, you are Bianca, be yourself, not who other people tell you to be," Cyrus said motivationally.

"Easy for you to say, you don't have famous parents, you wouldn't understand what it means to have a family legacy," Bianca said quietly.

"You'd be surprised…" Cyrus said somberly.

"What do you mean by that?" Bianca asked.

"It's… complicated, but let's not make this about me, I'll tell you some other time," Cyrus replied, he then walked over to the weapon rack and picked up a synthetic broadsword that resembled his weapon, Caliburn, "You still haven't told me what that fighting style was or who let you in here," he remarked.

"Professor Haze has been leaving the key for me so I can get extra practice, and it's Vacuan Saber Fighting, I picked it up back in combat school, but haven't used it much, I've been practicing to get better at it, it compliments me better than the saber fencing, that's why I've been here for hours every night, the last few days," Bianca said.

"I'll tell you what, I'll give you…" Cyrus pulled out his scroll to check the time, "oh damn it's one-thirty… I'll give you one practice match, then we're gonna head back to the dorm, you need some rest, deal?" Cyrus said and then pocketed his scroll.

"Deal," Bianca said with a smile and the two of them stepped into the ring in the middle of the gym.

The next day Bianca was in a far better mood than she had been the last few days and she was better rested as well, needless to say her teammates were happy for her, they were still pissed at Apollo and Oliver for what they did to her though.

Cyrus and Bianca were leaving their Classical Literature class and about to make their way to the training halls for Combat Class, Blake had fixed Bianca's cloak and given it to her when she arrived in class that day. There was a large seam where Blake had sown it, it wasn't that noticeable though as she used white thread to repair it and the way Bianca normally wore it, it would be mostly hidden.

As she was fixing her cloak around her shoulders with her pin, Apollo and Oliver stepped in her and Cyrus' way.

"Hey there pruned Rose, I missed you in Combat Class yesterday, figured you dropped out, needless to say I'm disappointed you didn't," Apollo said as he smacked the palm of his hand to the wall and leaned into Bianca's face.

Bianca timidly looked away when he did this.

As Apollo stared down the timid girl, he saw she was wearing her pin again, "I thought I said you weren't allowed to wear this anymore," he said as he grasped Bianca's pin, primed to rip it off once more.

"Hey, Apollo, why don't you fuck off," Cyrus said angrily as he grabbed Apollo's forearm, preventing him from ripping off Bianca's pin.

Apollo let go of Bianca's pin and threw Cyrus' hand off his forearm, "oh, and what are you gonna do without that sword of yours, most of you non-brawler fighters aren't worth two shits without your toys, I bet I could kick your ass with my bare fists if I wanted to," Apollo boasted.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Cyrus said with a smirk, he then quickly glanced behind Apollo, "hey, I'd back off right now if I were you," he continued.

Apollo then heard the sound of knuckles cracking behind him, when he turned he saw that Scarlet and her partner Yaara were standing behind him ready for a fight.

Seeing he and Oliver were now outnumbered, they begrudgingly left Bianca alone.

"See you in class pruned Rose," Apollo said mockingly as he and Oliver walked away.

"Shut up ya little punk!" Scarlet shot back at Apollo.

"Thanks guys," Bianca said softly.

"No problem," Yaara said with a smile.

"Jeez, was that what I was like?" Scarlet asked.

"Yeah, kinda," Cyrus replied.

"Yeah, sorry about all that," Scarlet stated.

"Your fine," Cyrus said with a smile.

A little while later, as Teams BLAC and AYST readied themselves for Combat Class, Cyrus wasn't putting on his normal gear though, he wore his normal pants and boots of his combat outfit, but her didn't wear his shirt, breast plate, or trench coat, instead he wore only a black tank top and he wrapped his hands and lower forearms with white cloth wrappings.

"Cyrus, what are you doing?" Bianca asked.

"Proving a point," he replied.

Upon hearing this, Lucas chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny?" Bianca inquired.

"Oh, you'll see," Lucas replied with a large grin on his face.

They headed to their classroom from the locker room and Apollo couldn't help but notice that Cyrus wasn't wearing his normal gear, he was a bit confused to say the least.

After Professor Haze arrived in class, she was about to initiate the randomizer to select the first match, when Cyrus stood from his seat.

"Professor, I'd like to volunteer for the first match," he said.

"Very well, Cyrus, let's find you an opponent," Professor Haze replied.

Only one of the screens cycled with student's pictures, after a second, it landed on Alani's picture.

"Looks like we have a battle of the undefeated, Alani Kamehameha and Cyrus Grey," Professor Haze announced.

After the two made their way to the stage, Professor Haze was about to signal the start of the fight, both Alani and Cyrus readied themselves for battle.

"Don't go easy on me because I don't have my weapon," Cyrus said.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Alani replied as she presented one of the serrated tips of Kū towards Cyrus.

Professor Haze signaled the start of the fight and quickly vacated the stage.

Alani charged Cyrus, he held his ground, she thrust one of the serrated chainsaws that formed the tips of her spear at Cyrus, but he quickly sidestepped the attack and struck Alani with a backhand punch.

Apollo was surprised by this and leaned in to watch the fight with intrigue.

Alani quickly composed herself and spun her weapon around almost hitting Cyrus, but he managed to just barely dodge it.

Alani then caught Cyrus with a quick kick to the stomach lowering his Aura.

Cyrus composed himself, only to see Alani jump into the air and descend upon him with fury and intent.

As she swung her weapon down on him, the blades of her weapon now spinning like chainsaws, Cyrus blocked the strike with one of his barriers, with a quick shove he pushed his barrier and Alani away.

Cyrus then charged Alani and the two exchanged blows for a few moments, lowering their auras to near the red zone.

Cyrus managed to grab ahold of Alani's weapon and the two continued to exchange blows while trying to gain control of the weapon, during this engagement.

After being disarmed Alani fell back, but Cyrus rushed her, dropping Kū in the process.

Alani went to grapple Cyrus, but as she was about to grab him he leapt into the air with a spin and landed behind her.

She was taken by surprise and quickly turned to face Cyrus, but before she could attack, it was too late.

Once Cyrus landed he delivered a series of powerful punches to her, one to the kidney, another to the side, one to the gut, and a haymaker to the face, this last strike was the finisher.

Alani fell to the ground; her aura was dropped to the red and the match ended.

"Ok, the winner is Cyrus Grey," Professor Haze announced.

Cyrus gave a smug salute to Apollo and then helped up Alani.

"Damn." Apollo said in astonishment.

"Good match Al," Cyrus said as he helped Alani up.

"You too, poino loa… damn, where did you learn to fight like that?" Alani asked.

"When you grow up on the street, you pick up a few things," Cyrus stated.

Alani grabbed Kū off the ground and the two of them headed back to their seats.

Several more fights went by, with multiple students facing off against each other, but no one from Teams BLAC or AYST were called, and neither were Apollo or Oliver, until the very end of class.

"We've got time for two more matches today, so let's get to it," Professor Haze announced.

The screen cycled through the student's pictures for a few moments before landing on Alyssa and Oliver's faces.

"Ok, Alyssa Xiao Long and Oliver White, you're up," Professor Haze stated.

As Alyssa made her way to the combat stage, she had a huge grin on her face, she was gonna savor every moment of this fight, no… this beat down.

The two opponents stood across from one another, Oliver drew his pistol and Alyssa activated Shadow Celica, covering her hands in its protective articulating plate armor.

The fight was started and Alyssa charged Oliver.

Oliver fired a hail of rounds at Alyssa, but she managed to dodge all of them, she didn't bother to stop and return fire.

She reached Oliver and struck him in the chin with a backflip kick, staggering him.

Oliver switched his weapon to its kukri sword form and took a few swings at Alyssa, the first of these strikes she parried with ease.

Alyssa dodged Oliver's final strike of this engagement by dropping to the ground. Once on the floor Alyssa pressed her palms to the ground, rotated her hips and fired off a shot from Hidden Flame, accelerating a kick into Oliver's ribs and sending him flying to the other side of the stage.

Alyssa spun vertically on her right palm for a second, slowing her momentum, before somersaulting back to a standing position and rushing Oliver once more.

Oliver swung his kukri at Alyssa when she reached him, but she blocked the strike with Shadow Celica and proceeded to pummel Oliver with a series of punches, firing off shots from her double-barreled shot gauntlets every time she made contact.

Every time Alyssa struck him she said something.

"Don't… You… Ever… Touch… My… Cousin… Again…!" She yelled as she clobbered Oliver.

After this she delivered a roundhouse kick to Oliver's chin, sending his Aura into the red and his head slamming into the floor, ending the match.

"You got that," Alyssa said intimidatingly as she walked away from Oliver.

"That was fast," Professor Haze remarked, "alright, Alyssa Xiao Long wins," she continued.

That match had to be the single worst thirty seconds of Oliver's young life, Alyssa won the match without taking a single hit and she didn't even use her semblance to its full potential.

Alyssa and Oliver made their way back to their seats as the screen cycled through the pictures of the students, once they reached their seats, the screen stopped on Bianca's and Apollo's faces.

Apollo got a smug look on his face as he made his way to the combat stage, he was sure an easy victory would come his way,

.Bianca was a little hesitant, her partner placed his hand on her shoulder as she got up.

"You'll do fine," Cyrus said reassuringly.

Bianca gave him a nod of her head and her hesitant look was replaced with a confident one.

The two took their positions on the stage, Apollo in his boxing stance, and Bianca in her typical fencing stance, right leg forward and locked straight, her left leg back and bent slightly, her right saber our forward, presented to Apollo and her left saber held blade up next to her head and in line with her left eye.

Professor Haze started the fight and vacated the stage.

Bianca charged Apollo with her semblance, when she got close she delivered a thrust to Apollo's chest.

Apollo slapped the strike away with one of his armored boxing gloves, and caught Bianca's face with a powerful right hook, knocking her away.

Bianca rushed in once more, trying to deliver the precise thrusts and elongated slashes that Atlesian Saber Fencing was known for, but Apollo kept blocking or parrying them without much effort, and chipped away at her aura with his own well timed strikes in the process.

Bianca fell back for a moment to formulate a new plan, in the meantime Apollo taunted her by motioning his right fist in a 'come here' motion.

Bianca was about to combine her sabers to form her scythe, but she stopped just before combining them.

Bianca instead took a new stance, her right leg was forward and bent slightly, her left leg, back and straight, she held both sabers out in front of herself, one slightly more forward than the other.

She rushed Apollo once more, but instead of delivering precise stabs in a fencing motion, she weaved her sabers around each other, her arms, and her body as a whole, striking Apollo several times as he struggled to block Bianca fluid movements.

Every time Apollo tried to strike Bianca she would use one of her sabers as a shield and parry Apollos blows while simultaneously striking him with the opposite one.

Apollo's Aura dropped like a rock, falling to near the red zone, he managed to get away from Bianca and try to regain his composure.

Bianca rushed Apollo before he could ready himself and delivered a few expertly weaved slashes to Apollo's body, knocking him down and dropping his Aura into the red zone.

"Bianca Rose wins," Professor Haze announced, "okay, that concludes class for today, have a great rest of the day and I'll see you all tomorrow," she continued.

Team AYST and Alyssa were cheering for Bianca from their seats, Lucas was his normal nonchalant self, simply giving Bianca a congratulatory nod. When Bianca looked to her partner, he gave her a smile and a thumb up. Bianca replied with a large smile, a small tear ran down her right cheek as she smiled.


	9. Awakening, Part One

Chapter Nine: Awakening, Part One

A warehouse near the Vale docks was home to a secret lab and makeshift hospital with a single patient, a man whose body is broken and had been falling in and out of a coma for the past two years, after being in a steady coma for more than twenty. His broken body floats in a tank full of some type of fluid keeping him on the edge of life and death.

Every day a small woman with pink and brown hair visits him, especially recently since he's been falling in and out of a coma, so they've had time to see one another, but today was even more special. She sits next to the tank, her hand pressed against the glass, a hopeful smile was on her face, but it hid concern behind it.

An elderly doctor walks into the room where she is sitting, a significantly younger woman follows him in.

"It's time, Rouge, lets extract the patient," the doctor says.

"Yes doctor," Rouge replies.

The woman with pink and brown hair gets up from where she is sitting and backs away from the tank as the doctor and Rouge begin to drain the liquid from the tank. After the liquid is drained, they gently pull the man's body from the tank and connect him to mobile life support machines before placing his body on a gurney.

"Prepare the patient for the operation," the doctor orders.

"Yes doctor," Rouge replies.

Rouge pushes the patient on the gurney into the next room as the doctor prepares for the operation. When she is clear of the doctor's sight, the look on her face turns sour.

"You are the last person who deserves this," she says to the unconscious man, "If I didn't need the doctor's help at the moment, I would cleanse your evil from Remnant… I would cleanse the doctor and your little friend as well, you're all irredeemable," she continued.

As she entered the makeshift operating room and began prepping the patient, a cloud of shadowy mist manifested itself from the shadow her body cast on the ground, the boy who had been watching Cyrus and Bianca stepped out of the mist causing it to dissipate. His hood was down, revealing his face, he possessed short and spikey jet-black hair with icy blue eyes and pale skin, he had a youthful look, he couldn't have been older than fourteen or fifteen, he was also a tiny bit taller than Rouge. The look upon his face was blank as he showed no emotion.

"My lady," he said apathetically while bowing his head.

"Hello Jet, what have you to report?" She asked with intrigue.

"The ones with the silver eyes don't have grasp of their powers, the boy I'd recommend eliminating, he is irredeemable, the girl on the other hand may yet be saved," he said with no emotion.

"Good work, tell Nilah to keep track of their teammates, I have a new job for you," Rouge said.

"What would that be my lady?" he asked in a draggy tone.

"I need you to help Field Marshal Berg begin mobilizing the troops, we're almost done here, when your task is complete, you may return," Rouge said.

"Yes, my lady," Jet replied apathetically while bowing his head.

A cloud of shadowy mist then rose from a nearby shadow and Jet stepped into it, disappearing near instantly. The mist then quickly dissipated as the doctor entered the room.

"I see your friend was here, what did he want?" He asked.

"Nothing important doctor," Rouge stated.

"Mhmm," the doctor replied skeptically, "anyway, let's start the operation," he continued.

The elderly doctor and Rouge began operating on the man's broken body, attaching prosthetic forearms, complete with elbow joints, to his stumps. They then set about attaching a robotic lower body to replace the one he lacked, along with this they attached a robotic ribcage to his torn up right side and went about covering it with metal plates, they soldered wires together and connect tubes to his broken insides. While they operated, the small woman was watching, her face fully of worry and concern that the operation would fail. After a few hours, it was complete, the man's broken body was fixed.

The man awoke in a daze a few hours later, he looked around the makeshift hospital for a moment before he turned to see the small woman sitting in a chair next to his bed, her hand interlocked with his new robotic one, she was crying, not with sadness, but joy.

"Mmm… Ne...o, is that you…" he said groggily.

About a week had passed since Bianca's match with Apollo. Since her victory that day she had won most of her matches, although she still lost here and there, she wasn't losing as much as she had been, or as badly either. Cyrus remained undefeated in their class, having recently beaten Ebony Tacari in a very close and tense match. As of the current moment, Cyrus was ranked top among all the first-years in all the combat classes. Apollo and Oliver had been given detention for one month plus a week of 'community service' once it was complete, for what they did to Bianca.

After hanging out with Team AYST like they did on most days, Team BLAC was making their way back to their dorm, when Blake approached them.

"Hey Professor Belladonna," Cyrus said.

"Hello Mr. Grey," Blake replied.

"What's up mom?" Alyssa asked.

Blake shifted her focus from Cyrus to her daughter, "I have something for you and your cousin," Blake said as she pulled an envelope from the pocket of her white jacket.

She handed it to Bianca as there was no brail writing on it, so it would be impossible for Alyssa to read it, even if she used her semblance.

After receiving the envelope, Bianca opened it to reveal its contents, a hand drawn invitation to a birthday party, it looked to have been drawn by a child.

The invitation read, "You are invited to my birthday party on Sunday, bring some friends! – Pyrrha Arc Ren", on it was some imagery of happy stick figures playing around with a happy sun in the corner and a rainbow in the sky.

"Well, what is it B?" Alyssa asked.

"It's an invitation to Pyrrha's birthday on Sunday," Bianca replied.

"That one's special you know, she wanted to draw it herself for you two, the rest of the invitations were on store bought cards," Blake said with a smile.

"D'aww, that's too cute," Alyssa said.

"It says we can bring friends, you guys wanna come?" Bianca asked Cyrus and Lucas.

"If there's cake, I'm game," Cyrus said.

"Knowing Nora, she'll have Ren make a huge one," Bianca said.

"A bunch of hyper screaming little kids… I'll pass," Lucas said.

"Oh, come on, bro don't be like that, you've really broken out of your shell these last few weeks," Cyrus stated.

"Dude… I don't really like little kids, especially ones that are hyped up on sugar," Lucas retorted.

"Luc, it won't be that bad, besides when it comes to hyperness, the kids are the least of your concern," Alyssa stated.

"Ugh… fine, I'll go," Lucas said begrudgingly.

"Hey, why don't we ask Team AYST if they wanna go? The more the merrier, right?" Cyrus asked.

"I think I remember Eb saying they were going to the movies that day," Bianca said.

"Oh, that's right," Cyrus remembered.

"Ok, we'll go," Bianca said to Blake.

"I'm sure Pyrrha will be happy to hear that," Blake said with a smile.

"We probably won't be able to stay the entire time, we have to get back here by curfew," Cyrus stated.

"Don't worry about it guys, you can stay the night at my place and we can ride back with my mom in the morning," Alyssa stated before then looking to her mother, "that ok with you?" She asked.

"It's fine with me, I'll speak with Professor Pine about it, I was just about to head over there anyway, I'm sure he'd let you off campus for the night," Blake replied.

As Team BLAC headed off to their dorm for the night, Blake went to Professor Pine's office atop the CCT Tower. In his clockwork office, Oscar was standing and staring out one of the windows down at the City of Vale, he had a pondering look about him.

"Where are you hiding?" He asked.

Oscar turned towards the entrance to his office once he heard the elevator coming to it, as he turned the door opened and Blake stepped out of it and into his office.

"Hello Blake," Oscar greeted.

"Hello Oscar," Blake replied.

Blake began to walk over to Oscar as he turned back around to gaze upon the city, when she reached him, she too began to look over the city.

"What may I ask is the reason for this visit, do you have word on our Rogue Maiden?" Oscar asked.

"Two reasons, the first does relate to our situation with the maiden, the second is a personal matter," Blake stated.

"Well, what have you found?" Oscar inquired.

"I've come across a few police reports of people finding the bodies of known criminals around the city, most of them date back to around seven months ago, just after Cardin went missing, until recently they were scattered and thought to be isolated incidents, as each death was different, no one could've seen a pattern till now. Some of the scenes are too gruesome to describe. However, a number that have been found recently were discovered to be charred… burnt to a crisp, just like the bodies Ren came across in the forest five years ago," Blake stated.

"Hmm… interesting, anything else?" Oscar stated.

"Yes, another report came from an eye witness to one of these murders, the eyewitness said that a young woman saved them when they were being mugged, she said, and I quote, 'she dropped down from a roof and landed between us, she then told me to run before shooting flames from her hands and roasting the man who was mugging me, alive,' end quote," Blake stated.

"That does sound like it could be her," Oscar pondered.

"Should we act on this lead?" Blake asked.

"Not yet, we need a bit more information, but keep track of these crimes, they may lead to something," Oscar said.

"I will," Blake stated.

"Oh, and what was that personal matter you wanted to ask?" Oscar inquired.

"My daughter and her team were going to attend Ren's daughter's birthday party on Sunday, they wanted to stay the night in town with Yang and I that day," Blake stated.

"Very well, tell them they can, but make sure they aren't late for class," Oscar said.

"Trust me Oscar, they won't be," Blake stated with a slight smile.

As Blake headed off towards the elevator Oscar called to her, "wish the young Ms. Ren a happy birthday for me."

"Will do Oscar," Blake replied as she stepped in the elevator.

Team BLAC got word from Blake that they would be allowed to spend that Sunday night in town with her and Alyssa's other mother Yang after Pyrrha's birthday party. Team BLAC spent the Saturday before the party like they normally did, studying, doing homework, and sparring with one another in the gym. When Sunday morning came around, they got ready for the day, they wore the same outfits they had when they went on out on the town a couple of weeks back. Around noon, they headed to the Beacon docks and rode a Bullhead down to the city, when they arrived at the transport station, Yang, Blake, and Alyssa's little brother Cerin greeted them.

"Hurry up guys we're gonna be late!" Cerin shouted to Team BLAC when he saw them.

"Chill bro, it's twelve-thirty, the party doesn't start till two," Alyssa replied.

"Yes, Cerin please calm yourself," Blake stated.

Team BLAC walked up to the three-people waiting for them. The three of them were standing in front of Yang's bright yellow SUV, which nearly dwarfed the them. It could easily fit eight or nine people, maybe even ten if they were small enough.

When Team BLAC reached Yang, Blake and Cerin, Alyssa and Bianca exchanged hugs and greetings with them before formally introducing their partners to Yang and Cerin.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person Mrs. Xiao Long," Lucas said wile reaching his hand out to shake Yang's.

"Likewise, Lucas," Yang said with a smile while shaking hands with the boy.

Lucas hid a bit of pain behind a smile on his face as he shook Yang's robotic hand, she was squeezing his hand rather hard, she was either doing it on purpose or by accident, he couldn't tell.

When Yang loosened her grip, Lucas pulled his hand away and immediately started to massage it to try and make the pain go away.

"So, you're Lucas huh?" Cerin said with an unimpressed tone.

"Yeah, nice to meet you, you must be Cer…" Lucas said but was cut off.

"So, what are you? Alyssa's new boyfriend," Cerin inquired condescendingly.

"Um… no, I'm your sister's partner…" Lucas corrected.

"Whatever, call it what you want," Cerin stated condescendingly.

"Come on bro, quit giving my partner a bad time," Alyssa said jokingly, whilst giving a Cerin a light punch in the shoulder.

"Ugh… I hate kids," Lucas said with an annoyed tone while facepalming.

"Hey, I'm thirteen, I'm not a kid," Cerin stated.

"My point still stands," Lucas said.

"Aunt Yang, Cerin, this is my partner Cyrus, he's Lucas' brother," Bianca said.

"Nice to meet ya," Yang said while shaking Cyrus' hand.

"Nice to meet you too Mrs. Xiao Long," Cyrus stated.

Cyrus wasn't affected nearly as much as Lucas was by Yang's iron grip of a handshake, although he did express a bit of discomfort on his face.

Cerin walked up to Cyrus after he finished shaking hands with Yang and sized him up for a moment.

"Hey, tomcat, you gonna say anything or you just gonna keep staring?" Cyrus asked.

"Don't call me tomcat," Cerin stated bluntly.

Cyrus and Cerin stepped up to one another and began glaring at each other, neither one backing down. Cyrus towered of Cerin as he was only slightly taller than Bianca. After a few tense moments, the two began to chuckle before Cyrus threw his arm around the smaller faunus boy.

"I like this kid, he ain't a timid little tomcat," Cyrus stated with a light laugh.

"Yo, B, your partner isn't half bad, and I dig his style, I'm lovin' the black," Cerin said.

After the introductions, the seven of them jumped into Yang's SUV and headed off to the Ren household for Pyrrha's birthday party. It would take them around a half hour, maybe a little longer depending on traffic to get from the transport station to their destination, for the mean time they just made small talk and chit chatted amongst one another. When they eventually did arrive at their destination, some people had already shown up.

After finding a place to park near Ren's house, the seven occupants of Yang's SUV got out and walked up to the front door. Ren and Nora's home was a very nice single story house in upper class district of Vale.

Blake knocked on the door when they reached it and they heard a familiar voice call out from inside, it was that of their old friend Nora.

"LJ, get the door please," Nora said.

"Sure mom," Li replied.

Li opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Yang, Blake, Cerin and Team BLAC standing outside his home.

Li was wearing his typical diagonally buttoned red tail coat with cream dress pants and black slip on shoes, and his hair was in its usual braid that hung down his back.

"Hello, come on in," Li said with a smile as he motioned for the seven of them to enter his house, "mom, dad, Mrs. Belladonna and Mrs. Xiao Long are here," he continued.

The interior of the house was quite nice, there were several nice landscape paintings hanging on the walls with a long dining table off to the right side of the room, next to it, up against the wall, was a desk with a CCT Terminal on it. On the left side of the room was a small closet and a hutch filled with ornate dining dishes. The floor of this room was a very fine hardwood which looked like it had been recently cleaned. The kitchen and living room were on the other side of the wall from the dining room, they were connected via a short passageway.

Shortly after Li called out who had arrived, Nora and her daughter Pyrrha peaked their heads around the corner.

Nora hadn't let her hair grow out much since her time at Beacon, she rather preferred her hair short. Normally she let it hang freely, but today she had it up in a bun on the back of her head. She had on a white blouse together with a loose pink skirt and white flats.

Pyrrha had on a pink hoodie with a matching skirt and white ankle socks and matching velcro shoes. Her orange and black hair wasn't hanging freely like it normally did though, it had been styled into a pair of braided pigtails that hung from the back of her head and down onto her shoulders.

"Hi guys!" Nora called out in her normal high-pitched tone, before ducking back around the corner to finish whatever she was doing.

"Alyssa! Bianca! You guys came!" Pyrrha called out as she ran up to the two girls and tried her best to grip the both of them in a hug.

"Hey Pyrrha, happy birthday," Bianca said with a smile.

"Yea, happy birthday, tell me, how old are you now?" Alyssa stated.

"Eight!" Pyrrha exclaimed happily.

"Cool!" Alyssa replied as she lightly ruffled the little girl's hair.

Yang and Blake wished Pyrrha a happy birthday before continuing into the kitchen/living room area where Nora was. Cerin did the same, but he then went off to the backyard with his friend Li. After the others left, Alyssa and Bianca introduced Pyrrha to their partners.

"So, this is the birthday girl," Cyrus said as he walked up to Pyrrha.

"Yup," Pyrrha replied happily.

"Nice to meet you, and happy birthday," Cyrus stated with a smile.

"Thank you," Pyrrha replied with a smile.

As Team BLAC entertained Pyrrha, Yang and Blake were talking with Nora in her kitchen, where she was finishing preparing some appetizers and snacks for the party, currently she had a tray of cookies in the oven.

Ren and Nora's kitchen was connected directly to the living room, only being separated by a "bar area" connected to the counter and sink. The floors of the kitchen were not hard wood like the front room, instead they were marble tiles. The counter tops were a beautiful polished granite, while all the appliances were stainless steel.

The living room had hardwood floors like the front room. Against the back wall was a corner couch that sat across from a large television monitor that hung on the wall. Next to the couch was a sliding glass door that led to the home's backyard. On the adjacent corner from the couch was a fireplace, at the moment it wasn't lit as there was no need for it to be. Some family pictures sat on top of the fire place, but above them hung a huntsman's weapon, a shield with a sword inside it.

The shield was white with a pair of golden arcs on the front, the shield itself was bordered in gold and a design of what looked like a circlet was at the base of the shield. The sword had an ornate golden cross guard and matching pommel with a vibrant blue handle.

"So, has Pyrrha gotten her semblance yet?" Yang asked.

"No, not yet, Ren and I were hoping it would've manifested itself by now," Nora said with slight concern.

"Even if it doesn't manifest now, it doesn't mean she'll never get it," Yang said reassuringly.

"True, I mean look at Alyssa, her semblance didn't manifest itself till she was twelve," Blake stated.

"I know there is still a possibility, it's just the chances of it happening are slim at best now, it'll just kill me if she can't live her dream," Nora said.

"I take it she wants to be a huntress?" Blake inquired.

"Yes, more than anything, I'm just afraid she won't be able to do it," Nora said somberly.

It was then that Pyrrha and Team BLAC walked into the kitchen, luckily Pyrrha had not heard anything her mother had said to Yang and Blake during their conversation. Nora and Ren didn't want to crush their daughter's dreams, but they also knew that they may need to tell her at some point.

"Mommy, are the cookies ready yet?" Pyrrha asked with a smile.

"Almost honey, they just need a few more minutes," Nora replied.

"Ok," Pyrrha said with a smile and then proceeded to skip away from the group.

Pyrrha headed outside to the backyard, to play with some kids her age, Ren and Nora had rented a bounce house for the party and that was where most of the kids were playing at the moment.

"What kind of cookies are you making?" Alyssa asked.

"Chocolate Chip," Nora replied.

Hearing those words caused Bianca's eyes to begin sparkling and a large smile come over her face in anticipation of her favorite food.

"Speaking of cooking, where's Ren at?" Blake asked.

"He's out back getting the barbeque ready," Nora replied.

"Oh, what's he cooking?" Alyssa asked with intrigue.

"Kebabs, they're Pyrrha's favorite," Nora stated.

"I love kebabs," Cyrus said, gaining the attention of Nora.

"And who might you be?" She asked.

"Oh, sorry, we forgot to introduce them," Alyssa said.

"Nora, these are Alyssa and mine's partners, Lucas and Cyrus Grey," Bianca said.

"Nice to meet you two," Nora said.

"Pleasure to meet you too Mrs. Ren," Cyrus said.

"Dido," Lucas said nonchalantly.

"The pleasure is mine," Nora said.

As the time for the party to start came closer and closer, more people began to show up with their kids for the celebration.

Team BLAC had headed out to the backyard to get some fresh air and watch the children play, although, Bianca and Alyssa were considering jumping in the bounce house with them, meanwhile Cyrus was talking with Cerin and Li, and Lucas… Lucas was getting pestered by some of the younger children at the party, for whatever reason, they had taken an interest in the gray clad boy.

One of the children pestering Lucas kept asking him questions like 'why is your hair so messy, do you not wash it?' or 'why do you look so angry right now, are you not having fun?'

As Lucas was getting pestered more and more he worked hard to keep his cool, he was pretty sure no one would appreciate their kid getting knocked out, and he didn't want to be a downer on a little girl's birthday party.

As the children kept pestering him, Lucas sank in his seat, "I hate kids…" he grumbled to himself.

Bianca and Alyssa eventually decided to let their inner kid out and headed over to the bounce house when Pyrrha asked them to come and play. As they were walking they passed by Ren, who was finishing up the first batch of kebabs on the grill. He had on his normal green and white attire, but over the top of it was a pink apron bordered in white, the phrase on the front of his apron read "please do nothing to the cook" in red lettering, outlined in white.

Ruby and Weiss eventually showed up as the party was truly starting, shortly after that, Nora and Ren finished prepping the food. Bianca and Alyssa took the time to introduce their partners to Ruby and Weiss. Ren took some time to speak with the adults at the party.

Between Ruby and Nora, let's just say Alyssa was right about the kids being the least hyperactive people at the party. Even though they were in their late thirties/early forties, Ruby and Nora were still kids at heart, even after all the hardships they experienced in their days at Beacon and in their careers as huntresses. They jumped in the bounce house and started doing backflips and other tricks for the kids, causing great amusement and joy to spread throughout all the younger party goers. This trait the two of them shared did occasionally get on the nerves of their significant others, but it was also something Ren and Weiss loved about them.

Once they had let out their energy, Ruby and Nora joined their old friends in watching the kids play and have a good time. Obviously, the person enjoying themselves the most was Pyrrha, she looked so happy playing with her friends, especially jumping in the bounce house with her 'adoptive' sisters Alyssa and Bianca.

Seeing her so happy tore at Ren and Nora's hearts, because they knew the more time that passed, the less likely she would get her semblance, and they knew without a semblance it was next to impossible for someone to become a hunter.

After most of the people had eaten the main course or gone through the appetizers and snacks, Ren and Nora brought out Pyrrha's birthday cake, it was pretty big, big enough to feed at least fifty people. Pyrrha had gotten more of her personality from her mother than her father, this was made more apparent seeing that after the cake was cut, it was revealed to be a pancake cake. Upon seeing this some of the people looked at Nora, but she insisted that it wasn't her decision, Pyrrha wanted the cake like this for her birthday.

After the cake was served Pyrrha then opened the gifts people brought for her and once that had finished, the people at the party wished her another happy birthday before they had begun to leave. Once the party goers had left, the Ren family cleaned up and began to wind down for the night.

"Goodnight honey, and happy birthday," Nora said as she tucked Pyrrha in for the night.

"Goodnight mommy," Pyrrha said.

Nora smiled at her daughter and placed a light kiss on her forehead before turning off the light and exiting her daughter's room. When she closed the door behind herself, Nora let out a light and somber sigh.

After getting ready for bed herself, she got into bed next to her husband, he could tell something was off with her.

"Something the mater baby?" Ren asked.

"Ren… do you think we should tell Pyrrha," Nora asked.

"Tell her what?" Ren inquired.

"Do you think we should tell her she might not get her semblance," Nora said quietly.

Ren began to ponder the matter to himself, he considered himself the optimist in the situation. While he knew there were people who got their semblances later in life, Yang and Blake's daughter Alyssa, and their former teammate Jaune Arc being prime examples of this, he also knew that they were the exception, not the rule.

"Nora, let's sleep on it, maybe we can break it to her in the morning," Ren stated softly.

Nora agreed with Ren, although this didn't make her any happier.

The two then laid down to sleep, they would have to break the news to their daughter in the morning.

Later, around midnight, Pyrrha was awoke in her darkened room by a feeling of flying, a fearful look came over her face when she saw several things floating in the darkness and she let out an ear-piercing shriek.

This loud shriek awoke Ren and Nora instantly and the two jumped out of bed and ran to their daughter's room, when they opened the door and turned on the light, the sight that greeted their eyes shocked them.

A distinctly pink glow was emitting from Pyrrha's body and all of the metal items in her room were floating, including her aluminum framed bed.

Nora's jaw hit the floor as Ren rushed in to calm his now crying and fearful daughter. He gripped her in his arms and activated his own semblance, calming the girl. When Pyrrha was calmed by Ren's semblance the metal items that had been floating dropped to the ground with a loud crash, since Ren was gripping Pyrrha in a tight embrace, her bed fell out from under her.

Li walked up behind his mother rubbing his tired eyes, "what's with all the noise?" He asked.

Nora was speechless, all she could do was stand there in the doorway, weeping tears of joy.

"Mom, you ok?" Li asked.

"I'm fine LJ," Nora said as she wiped the tears from her face, "your sister just got her semblance," she continued.

"Cool, what is it?" Li inquired.

"Polarity," Nora said with a happy sniffle.


	10. Awakening, Part Two

Chapter Ten: Awakening, Part Two

Team BLAC along with Cerin and the former Team RWBY left the party when most others did. On their way out of the house, Ruby and Weiss pulled Bianca aside to talk to her about what had happened a few days ago.

"Has everything been okay for you since the incident with those boys?" Ruby asked.

"It's been getting better, some people still make fun of me, but it's been dying down as time goes on," Bianca replied.

"Good, because if it happens again, it won't be pretty for those ruffians," Weiss stated.

"You two don't have to worry that much, my teammates have my back, especially Cyrus," Bianca said.

"Your partner does seem like a nice boy, but I can't help this weird feeling I get around him, like there's something he's hiding," Weiss said.

"Ugh, not you too," Bianca said in annoyance.

"What do you mean by that?" Ruby inquired.

"It's nothing, it's just Alyssa thinks he and his brother are hiding something from us, you see, they lost their parents when they were really young, so I think she's confusing grief for lying," Bianca said.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that, but have you thought of looking into it more," Weiss said.

"No, not really, I saw it was a touchy subject for them, so I try not to force it," Bianca replied.

Alyssa then called out to Bianca from her mother's SUV, "hey B, we gotta go, it's getting late."

"Sorry, I gotta go, bye mom," Bianca said as she hugged Weiss, to which she reciprocated the action, "bye mom," Bianca continued as she hugged Ruby and she too reciprocated her daughter's hug.

"That was a nice party," Blake said as her, Team BLAC, Cerin and Yang drove away in Yang's SUV.

"Yeah, you could say it was… Pyrr-ific," Yang said with a large grin.

Blake, Bianca, Alyssa, and Lucas all simultaneously groaned at Yang's pun, while Cyrus chuckled slightly and Cerin burst out laughing.

As Team BLAC, Yang, Blake, and Cerin continued to drive home, Alyssa began to ask Cyrus and Lucas what it was like living on the street in Vale during their youth, and how they managed to get by.

"So, Luc, when you and your brother lived on the street, where did you guys sleep?" Alyssa asked.

"Wherever we could," Lucas replied nonchalantly.

"You guys couldn't've slept on the street all the time; didn't Sonny ever give you a place to crash?" Alyssa inquired.

"We didn't know Sonny till relatively recently, we only met him about two years ago," Cyrus cut in.

"You expect me to believe you guys just spent every night sleeping in the gutters," Alyssa said in disbelief.

"We made due," Lucas said nonchalantly.

Alyssa had begun to get a bit frustrated at her partner and his brother, but she didn't want to cause a scene in the car so she tried to keep her cool. Bianca had remained quiet even though Alyssa's constant questioning of their partners was starting to get on her nerves.

After they arrived at Alyssa's home the seven of them got out of the SUV and headed inside. They relaxed for the night and watched some T.V. together for a time, before Cerin headed off to play some video games in his room and Yang and Blake decided to go to bed. When they did this, Alyssa went and got Lucas and Cyrus each a blanket and pillow so they could crash on the couches for the night, then she set up a bedroll on the floor of her room for Bianca.

Team BLAC didn't go to sleep immediately after Alyssa's parents and brother, instead they stayed up a little while longer, during which time Alyssa started to question her teammates about their past once again.

"Hey, guys, quick question, what did you do for money when you were on the street?" Alyssa asked.

"We managed to rustle up some cash here and there," Lucas replied vaguely.

Hearing yet another vague answer set Alyssa off, she had become tired of the empty answers she was getting from her teammates and wanted them to cut the shit for once.

"Hey! For once can you give me a straight answer and quit fuckin' lying!" Alyssa yelled.

"Alyssa! Will you quit it! I am tired of you accusing our partners of lying about their past, they lost their parents, why can't you just accept that!?" Bianca jumped in as she had grown tired of Alyssa questioning their partners.

"Because they are obviously leaving something out!" Alyssa shouted back.

"What does it matter if they are, besides, I bet they aren't hiding anything, right guys… guys?" Bianca said.

Lucas and Cyrus had looked away from Bianca when she said this, they had a bit of shame on their faces. When Bianca saw this, she came to the realization that maybe they were hiding something.

"See, I told you!" Alyssa said, noting the brothers' shameful expressions.

"Ugh! You always have to try and beat me don't you, you always have to be right, you can't ever settle can you!" Bianca said in frustration.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Alyssa inquired aggressively.

"Hey, guys please sto…" Cyrus tried to say, but was cut off.

"Stay out of this!" Both Bianca and Alyssa shouted at Cyrus.

"This isn't about me questioning them, it's about the tournament isn't it, you're just mad because I beat you and people started to ridicule you for losing to a blind opponent!" Alyssa shouted.

"No, it's not!" Bianca yelled.

"Don't lie!" Alyssa shouted back, "Oh, look at me, I'm Bianca Rose, I can't handle criticism," Alyssa continued mockingly.

"At least I'm not afraid of my past!" Bianca shouted angrily.

"You know what, I'm not doing this anymore, I'm going for a walk!" Alyssa said as she got up from the couch and stormed out of the house.

Blake and Yang had been awoken by Team BLAC's argument, despite being disgruntled by the shouting match going on downstairs, they decided to stay out of it as they remembered that their team had a few spats in their day. They knew it was important for them to solve their own problems as a team. They would only get involved if they absolutely needed to.

"I'll go after her," Lucas said, and promptly left after Alyssa.

Bianca let out a large sigh and grasped her head, she had given herself a headache in that shouting match with her cousin, meanwhile Cyrus, who was sitting on the couch perpendicular from Bianca's, had a regretful look on his face.

"Cyrus…" Bianca said.

"What?" he asked.

"Did you and your brother really lie to me and Alyssa when we talked?" Bianca inquired.

"It's… complicated, I wouldn't say we lied, more like we told a 'half-truth', but that's from our point of view, Alyssa obviously 'sees' it another way," Cyrus said.

"Do you wanna ta…" Bianca said, but was cut off.

"Not without Lucas," Cyrus stated bluntly.

Alyssa was walking down the street when she sensed her partner following her, she stopped and turned to confront him.

"Stop following me." She stated.

"Alyssa, you're my partner, I'm supposed to look out for you," Lucas said.

"I don't want to talk to you, your brother, or Bianca right now… Leave. Me. Alone." Alyssa commanded and then continued walking.

Despite Alyssa's command, Lucas kept following her, but from a distance, he was sure to stay out of the range of her semblance, she may be mad, but her semblance was not flaring up like it normally did when she was.

As Alyssa walked through town, the cool night air blew around her body, it was calming and comforting to her, she particularly liked how the breeze felt on her cat ears. She was still angry with Cyrus and Lucas… and her cousin, but this walk was helping relieve some of that anger.

As Alyssa reached the commercial distract, Lucas used his semblance to leap to the top of the buildings, so he could keep a better eye on her and make sure she would be okay, he knew Vale after dark wasn't the best place, even though it had improved significantly in the past few years.

As Lucas was trailing Alyssa he heard a creepy manic laugh come from behind him, but when he stopped to look where the sound came from, there was nothing there. When Lucas looked back to where Alyssa was, he found he had lost sight of her.

Alyssa continued to walk and let the cool night breeze flow around her body, but this sensation had caused her to become distracted and lose track of her surroundings.

Suddenly something heavy and hard hit her over the head, knocking her out, she could vaguely feel two men drag her by her arms into a nearby alley.

"This her, boss?" One of the men asked.

"Let see, blonde, check. Faunus, check. Blind…" another man said, then opened one of Alyssa's eyes, "check, yup, it's her boys," he continued.

Alyssa then came to and sensed about a dozen men around her. She could tell by their baggy clothing and accents that they were gang bangers, some of their voices she recognized as the men who tried to rob her on one of her nightly walks. She could also feel she was being restrained by two of the men, they each had one of her arms in a tight grip.

"Well would you look at that, sleeping beauty's awake," the lead thug said.

"Oh, well if it isn't the alley trash, who tried to rob a blind girl," Alyssa retorted.

"Oooh, still feisty I see, you know, my jaw is still a little stiff from our fight," the lead thug said.

"That's what you get for underestimating your opponent, now, why don't you tell your boys here to let me go before things get ugly," Alyssa stated confidently.

"HA! And what are you gonna do without those toys of yours, your no match for us without your shot gauntlets and boots," the lead thug said with a laugh.

"Let me go and let's test that theory," Alyssa commanded.

The lead thug walked up to Alyssa and knelt in front of her, getting eye to eye with the blonde faunus, when he did this, he looked over her face, before stopping on the scar under her left eye.

"How'd you get that scar blondie?" He asked with condescending curiousness.

"You should know, you gave it to me," Alyssa shot back.

"I'll tell ya what blondie," the lead thug said as he began to uncomfortably caress Alyssa's face, "let's have some fun before I break that pretty face of yours anymore," he continued.

Alyssa tried to free herself from the two larger men's grips at this point, but it was no use, they were much to strong.

As the lead thug groped her, Alyssa began to tear up, and experienced flashbacks of before she had her semblance, when she was nothing but a helpless little blind girl. As these memories came flooding back, her tears became larger and she struggled even harder to break free, but it was all for not.

"Get your hands off her!" A voice shouted from the rooftops.

A glyph in the shape of Lucas' emblem then appeared on the ground as Lucas fell from the rooftop. He landed with the glyph breaking his fall.

Upon seeing Lucas several of the men in the alley took fearful steps back, another man began repeating the same phrase, and the lead thug stepped away from Alyssa to confront Lucas.

"La muerte gris, La muerte gris, La muerte gris," a man said fearfully and then took off running out of the alley.

"Rojan, get back here!" The lead thug commanded.

"Hell naw vato, I wanna live!" The man shouted back as he continued to run.

"Wait, if he's here, then where's…" One of the large men holding Alyssa said.

After hearing this, several of the men began to get even more fearful looks on their faces as they looked around hastily for someone else… for Cyrus.

"Come on guy's get it together," the lead thug commanded, "look, he doesn't even have his weapons, and there's eleven of us and one of him," he continued.

"Hey, Flynn, how about you let my friend go," Lucas said to the lead thug.

"Oh, Lucas, Lucas, Lucas, I can't do that, you see, I have a bone to pick with your friend here, I can't just let her go after what she did to me and my boys," Flynn said.

"So, you're admitting you got beat up by a blind girl," Lucas said with a light laugh.

"I'm not admitting shit to you," Flynn said sharply, "now run along, this doesn't concern you," he continued.

"Oh yes it does," Lucas said and then raised his fists, ready for a fight.

"Are you mad, you're out numbered eleven to one, and you don't have your weapons, what can you do," Flynn said.

"Eleven to two," Lucas said confidently.

"What?" Flynn inquired with a bewildered tone.

Lucas then attacked the two guys holding down Alyssa, he hit one of them with and elbow to the face, and another with a roundhouse kick to the jaw.

Alyssa quickly got up and stood back to back with Lucas as they thugs surrounded them, she too readied herself for combat.

"You good to fight?" Lucas asked.

"Thanks, but I'm still mad at you," Alyssa replied.

"I'll take that as a yes," Lucas said with a smirk.

A few of the thugs charged Alyssa and Lucas as they stood back to back, these first few attackers were dispatched with ease, but they weren't knocked out of the fight.

One of the large men that had been holding down Alyssa charged her and swung a large lead pipe at her head.

Since Alyssa didn't have her heavy gauntlets to protect her, she opted to parry his strike instead of blocking it, after doing so, she hit the man with an elbow strike in his nose.

The large man stumbled backwards in pain as he held his now broken and bleeding nose, after a second, he got an angry look on his face and charged Alyssa once more.

Alyssa counter charged the man, as he swung his pipe, Alyssa dodged the strike by dropping to her right, as she did this, she threw a kick to the man's head.

Alyssa's kick staggered the man, and she took advantage of this, as the man tried to regain his composure, Alyssa spun on her hands and wrapped her legs around his torso taking him to the ground, she then promptly kneed him in the face, knocking him out cold.

While Alyssa was dealing with the large man, Lucas fought a couple of smaller thugs.

As one of the thugs swung his brass-knuckled fist at Lucas, he dodged the strike and hooked his arm under the thug's, Lucas then flung the thug to the ground, using the momentum of his punch against him.

The second thug then grabbed Lucas from behind, but Lucas quickly flung him off, spun around, and delivered a few punches to his face, knocking him out.

The thug Lucas had thrown onto the ground, got back up and swung at him once more.

Lucas caught his arm and quite viciously broke it, causing the man to drop to the ground riving in pain, while holding his dangling arm.

Alyssa and Lucas found themselves back to back once again, the second large man, along with a few other thugs rushed them.

"Alyssa, switch!" Lucas yelled.

Lucas then ducked under while Alyssa rolled over his back, when they did this, they each struck an opponent.

Alyssa struck one of her opponents with a thunderous downward punch, sending his face into the concreate, after this, her semblance began to flare up and her eyes faded from white to red.

Lucas uppercut the large man and sent him stumbling backwards, he then tripped over the other large man's body, knocking himself out when he hit the ground.

Alyssa and Lucas kicked the crap out of a few more of the thugs before Flynn decided to get involved.

"Ugh! If you want a job done right you gotta do it yourself," Flynn said.

Flynn then pulled out a pair of balisong knives and twirled them in his hands, before rushing Alyssa and Lucas.

Flynn landed a few nice strikes on Alyssa and Lucas, knocking them back, it was then, the last of his thugs charged the two of them.

Alyssa and Lucas parried and blocked the blows of these thugs for a few moments, before knocking them back with a series of quick strikes.

One of the thugs rushed Alyssa once more, he swung a metal baseball bat at her head, but she quickly dodged this strike by windmilling down to her hands.

Once on the ground, Alyssa hit the thug with a series of powerful flare kicks, knocking him to the ground, she quickly jumped up and delivered a downward kick to the thug, incapacitating him.

Lucas quickly dispatch the rest of the remaining thugs before he and Alyssa turned their attention back to Flynn.

Alyssa and Lucas charged Flynn and hit him with some heavy blows, putting him on the back foot.

He quickly regained his composure and began to skillfully parry and block both Alyssa and Lucas' blows, but they also parried his.

Lucas then hit Flynn with a surprise uppercut, sending him flying, Alyssa then delivered the finisher, a seven-twenty quadruple kick, knocking him out and sending him flying out of the alley and into the street.

After seeing this, the thugs that weren't already knocked out cold, ran off, or rather limped away with their tails between their legs, both figuratively and literally.

After the fight was over, Alyssa's cat ears twitched slightly as she sensed something… someone.

"Someone's watching us," Alyssa said.

Lucas began to look around, on a roof across the street he saw a figure. The figure was dressed in a white hooded scarf, with baggy white pants, white cloth wraps around their chest and hands, and white slip on shoes. This person resembled the boy who was watching Bianca on their initiation, except the color they wore, and they were a girl.

Lucas couldn't make out very much on the girl's face as her hood was covering most of it, all he could see was some long and straight black hair hang out of it, and a large manic smile.

"Oooh, you two are gonna be fun," she said manically, before then quickly rushing away from them.

Lucas then turned back to Alyssa who was still standing next to him, "well, she was defiantly something," he said.

"Yeah, whatever," Alyssa said as she walked past Lucas and out of the alley.

Lucas quickly jogged to catch up with his partner and walk her home.

"So, I take it those were the guys who you clobbered for trying to rob you?" Lucas asked rhetorically.

"You know, I had it under control, I didn't need saving," Alyssa stated bluntly.

"Bullshit, had I not been there, who knows what they would've done to you," Lucas shot back.

"I'm not a damsel in distress, I don't need saving!" Alyssa yelled, as a tear fell from her eye.

"Alyssa…" Lucas said softly.

Alyssa fell to her knees and grasped herself by the shoulders, she began to bawl, "I felt so vulnerable, like I was that helpless blind girl again," she said.

Lucas went to comfort his partner, but she shoved him away and jumped to her feet as her semblance began to flare up once more.

"And how in the hell do those thugs know you, I want a straight answer, no more vague runarounds!" She yelled as tears continued falling from her eyes.

"Fine, I'll tell you, but on two conditions, one, Cyrus has to be around, it's his story too, and two, you have to tell me what's up with this 'helpless blind girl' thing all of a sudden," Lucas said.

Alyssa took a deep breath before speaking, "remember on our first night after initiation, how I said I had to persevere more than anything?" Alyssa asked softly.

"Yeah, why?" Lucas inquired.

"It's because I didn't get my semblance when most people do," Alyssa stated softly, "It didn't manifest till I was almost twelve, as you know, most people get theirs between ages six and eight… For those four years after my eighth birthday, all I could do was hope and pray… I think I prayed to every god ever thought of, even though I don't fancy myself much of a believer in a higher power. I wanted to be a huntress so bad, just like my parents and another…" she continued.

"Another?" Lucas asked.

"You heard of Fox Alistair?" Alyssa asked with a soft tone.

"Yeah, not as famous as your parents, but I've heard of him," Lucas replied.

"Then you know he's blind… Like me," Alyssa said softly, "Behind my parents, he was my favorite huntsman, I felt that once I got my semblance I could be like him, a blind warrior, but my hopes were dashed when my semblance didn't manifest. I tried to stay happy around my parents, but when I was alone, I'd wallow in my own self-pity, I felt like I'd always be that 'helpless blind girl' or the 'damsel in distress', not the hero, but then it happened, one day I woke up and found I could 'see', not 'see' like you, B, or Cyrus, but I could sense the world around me… sensory projection, the perfect semblance for a blind person. Ever since then, I was determined never to look back, but the prospect of becoming that 'helpless blind girl' again still hangs over my shoulder every day, like a dark shadow," she continued.

"You know, even though you feel you don't ever need saving, I'll always have your back, and so will Cyrus and Bianca," Lucas said.

"Thanks Luc," Alyssa said as she wiped away her tears.

"No problem," Lucas replied.

Lucas and Alyssa walked back to her home after their street fight. Once they arrived home, Alyssa and Bianca reconciled for their brief spat earlier. Once Team BLAC was all together, they sat down around the front room couches and Lucas began to talk about he and his brother's past, Cyrus was visibly disturbed, as he was about to relive some memories he'd rather forget.

"So, you two want hear our whole past, no halve truths, I can tell you right now, I don't know what you'll think of us once we tell you, you'll probably never want to see us again," Lucas stated.

Bianca and Alyssa sat at attention, ready to hear their partners' story, they gave nods of readiness for the confession.

"So, first, our father, he wasn't really a huntsman, he was a low-level crime lord from right here in Vale, Reed Harkin was his name, and our mother, Indigo Grey, was a prostitute that he knocked up one night," Lucas said, "Needless to say, but he was a deadbeat at best, never around, never payed child support, nothing," he continued.

Bianca and Alyssa were taking this new news well, but the worst was yet to come.

"Our mom struggled to provide for us, she even considered putting us up for adoption so we could have a good life, but then she met someone around the time Cyrus and I turned six, a young monkey faunus huntress, recently graduated from Beacon, Maize Xantha, they hit it off near immediately, at this point Cyrus and I thought our young lives were going to be better from then on… oh how wrong we were," Lucas said, he then rubbed his eyes to keep himself from tearing up, "she pulled our family out of the gutters and we moved to the suburbs in the residential district, our mom and step mom then had a baby together, our half-sister, Iris Xantha. We thought our life was perfect… but then He came back," Lucas continued, at this point he had begun to tear up.

"You gonna be okay Lucas?" Bianca asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Lucas said with a sniffle as he wiped away his tears, "Reed busted into our house one day, I guess he wasn't happy we had a good life and had pretty much forgotten about him. Our step mom fought him and his thugs, but they overpowered and killed her, our mother managed to get us out of the house, but when she tried to run out with our sister, Reed shot and killed both of them, she was barely a year old," he continued.

"Oh my god…" Bianca said as she covered her mouth in shock

"I now understand why you didn't tell us everything at first," Alyssa said softly.

"There's more," Cyrus said somberly.

"Yeah, we lived on the street for a while, like we told you before, but not for very long, we started working as couriers for Hei Xiong, you probably know of him by his nickname, 'Junior,' Lucas said.

"Oh, you mean the owner of 'Junior's Club', right?" Bianca inquired.

"Yeah, that Hei Xiong," Lucas replied, "we worked for him for a while, just little stuff here and there, but then as we got older, we started doing more, not just for Junior, but for all types of people in the Vale underground, mostly as hired muscle or… hitmen… We kept secret with our identities when we did those things, people started calling us the Grey Death and the Black Beast, that's why those thugs were scared, our reputations precede us, and they knew that when one of us was around, the other was always close by, also, we worked with their boss, Flynn, more than once, that's how we knew each other," Lucas continued.

Cyrus still said nothing as he sat in silence, reliving all the horrible things he had done in that part of his life. Bianca got up from where she was sitting and sat by Cyrus to comfort him, he looked like he needed it right now.

"Cyrus was in pretty deep, doing the work we did almost cost him his humanity, we both have our demons, but I can't even fathom how many he has," Lucas said, "around two years ago I decided to get us out after a job we were contracted to do, some guy owed some powerful people a lot of money and he didn't pay up, we got hired to kill them and when we received information about the target, we saw it was our father," he continued.

"So, did you guys… ya know, do the job?" Alyssa asked.

"Yeah, we tracked him down and killed him," Lucas said.

"Don't sugar coat it, we didn't kill him… I killed him, put Caliburn right through his chest, and you know what… it felt good, I don't know why, but that's the one thing I don't regret," Cyrus said bluntly.

"Cyrus almost lost himself that day, I almost lost my brother, so I made the decision to leave and I brought him with me, I wasn't about to lose the only family I had left. When we got out, we borrowed some money from some less than reputable people, a loan that we needed help paying back, that's how we met Sonny, you already know that story," Lucas said, "after that, Cyrus started fighting in underground fighting pits, that's how he got so good at unarmed combat, and how we managed to get by, it also helped that Sonny let us crash at his place from time to time," he continued.

Cyrus got up from the couch and headed to the backyard for some air, he needed it after reliving those memories.

Bianca got up and went after him as Lucas and Alyssa stayed seated on the couch.

"I'm sorry, I should've never forced you to tell us," Alyssa said softly.

"No, it's fine, we needed this, no more bottling up our emotions and hiding our past, if it was anyone we could've opened up to, I'm glad it was you and Bianca," Lucas said.

"You need a hug?" Alyssa asked.

"I'm good, but thanks anyway," Lucas replied.

Cyrus was sitting on the bench in Alyssa's backyard, staring up at the night sky with tears falling down his cheeks.

The sliding glass door opened and Bianca stepped out, she walked over and sat next to Cyrus, when she did this, she placed her hand on his which was resting on his knee.

Cyrus noticed her, but he couldn't bring himself to look at his partner, the shame and regret he felt for what he had done in his past was too great for him to bare.

"How can you even look at me after learning about what we… what I did," Cyrus said somberly.

"It's the past Cyrus, everyone has their inner demons, their skeletons in their closet, you can't let the past dictate who you are, but let it be a lesson that strengthens the person you'll become," Bianca stated.

"But, I was evil, I was a horrible person back then," Cyrus said.

"Exactly," Bianca stated softly.

"What do you mean?" Cyrus inquired.

"You were that person, but you aren't anymore, be the person you want to be, not the person you think you are," Bianca said.

"That still doesn't change what I did," Cyrus said.

"Everyone deserves a second chance," Bianca said softly.

"Not me," Cyrus replied somberly, "how anyone would want to be friends with someone like me I'll never know," he continued.

"Cyrus, I… I…" Bianca hesitated to say as she began to blush.

Seeing Cyrus in so much despair made Bianca want to tell him how she felt so bad, maybe it would bring him out of his depression if he knew how she felt about him. But, for whatever reason, the words got stuck in her throat. She took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh, clearing the blush from her face.

"Cyrus, I just want you to know, I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you, especially since you were there for me," Bianca said.

She couldn't say what she wanted to say, even though she was screaming it inside, she just couldn't say it, however, her words still seemed to help her partner.

Cyrus went from staring at the night sky, to looking at Bianca. His silver eyes gazed into hers, this action made the blush return to Bianca's face. Before she knew it, he wrapped his arms around her and grasped her in a hug.

"Thank you… thank you so much," Cyrus said with a weep.

As the night progressed Team BLAC decided to call it a day. Bianca and Alyssa had learned what their partners were hiding from them, but they didn't regret hearing it, they were grateful that they opened up to them. They didn't care about what Cyrus and Lucas did in their past, that's not them anymore… everyone deserves a second chance.

The next morning, Alyssa and Bianca awoke at around the same time as Alyssa's parents, they were busy waking up the others for the day, Yang woke up Cerin and Blake went to wake up the Grey brothers, who were asleep on the front room couches.

"Hey, time to wake up you two," Blake said as she lightly shook the both of them.

"Mmm… Five more minutes," Cyrus mumbled.

Blake stood up from her slightly bent position and got a mischievous smile on her face, "oh honey, I need help waking up the boys, I think a little Xiao Long touch is needed," she said.

Blake then moved the coffee table away from the couches as Yang walked downstairs from the bedrooms to the front room. She stood between the two couches and firmly grasped the blankets of Cyrus and Lucas.

"Time to wake up boys!" Yang shouted and then forcefully yanked the blankets off Cyrus and Lucas, causing them to fall off the couches and onto the floor.

Bianca, Alyssa and Cerin were watching the scene from the second-floor hallway that overlooked the front room. They broke out laughing after Yang flung them out of bed and onto the floor.

"Well… I guess it's time to get up," Cyrus said, his voice being muffled by the pillow that had fallen on his head.

Lucas grumbled a bit at being woken up so aggressively, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"Thanks honey," Blake said.

"No problem Blakey," Yang replied.

Blake then pecked Yang on the lips quickly before she headed upstairs to finish getting ready for the day.

After they all finished getting ready and ate breakfast, Yang took Cerin to Coastal Academy, while Blake headed up to Beacon with Team BLAC.


	11. Exams and Experiments

Chapter Eleven: Exams and Experiments

A man was recovering from an operation in a makeshift hospital inside a warehouse, his broken body had been fixed after he awoke from a twenty plus year coma. His arms, lower half and good portion of his abdomen were now robotic prosthetics.

The man was sitting on a hospital bed looking over his new body parts, his gaze moved from his arms down to his chest and legs. He got up from the bed and limped over to a mirror on the wall. He had been in a tank that kept him alive, but it didn't keep him from aging, his face now had noticeable wrinkles around the eyes and his once orange hair was now mostly silver-gray.

A sense of anger came over the man and he punched the mirror, shattering it, and putting a large dent in the concrete wall behind it.

"Ah, Mr. Torchwick I see you're awake, did you enjoy your nap," the elderly doctor said as he walked in the room.

Roman braced himself against the broken wall with his arm as he just began to think to himself for a moment, the last thing he remembered was getting eaten alive by a Griffon when he was about to kill little red.

"I can see you're still in a bit of shock, a usual effect for someone who was clinically dead for as long as you were, not to mention how long you were in a coma for," the doctor said.

"How long?" Roman asked bluntly.

"Twenty-four years, Mr. Torchwick," the doctor replied.

"Damn that little red…" Roman said while gritting his teeth.

"Excuse me? Who is this 'little red'," The doctor inquired.

"Ruby Rose," Roman said angrily.

"So, you know Miss Rose too," the doctor inquired.

"What!? You know her, how?!" Roman frantically asked.

"She and her friends destroyed my lab and all my creations around twenty-four years ago," the doctor said.

"Looks like we have a common enemy then," Roman paused for a moment before speaking again, "what's your name by the way?" he inquired.

"Merlot," the doctor replied.

Roman looked around the room for a moment, he had been resting for a while after his operation, and most of the time, his faithful companion Neo had been by his side, but today she was noticeably absent.

"So, Doc, where's Neo at?" Roman asked.

"Your mute friend is running an errand for me, I need a test subject for my latest experiment, she should be back soon," Dr. Merlot replied.

Rouge was secretly eavesdropping on Roman and Merlot while they spoke, even though she worked as Merlot's assistant, there were some things he kept secret from her, she had grown curious of what the aged doctor was working on.

When they ceased speaking and Merlot began to leave the room they were in, Rouge quickly and quietly got away from the scene. She exited the warehouse and made her way to the back of it. When she reached it, the girl in white who was watching Alyssa and Lucas was waiting for her.

The girl had her hood down, her face was very similar in construction to Jet's. She also had the same icy blue eyes, pale white skin, and jet-black hair. Her hair was very long and straight however, extending half way down her back, she also possessed bangs that covered her forehead.

"Hello Nilah," Rouge said.

"Greetings my lady," Nilah said with a bow.

"Well, what have you to report?" Rouge asked.

"My initial observations have proven inconclusive, all I've found is that they are excellent fighters," Nilah paused as a large manic smile came over her face, "I hope they're irredeemable so I can have some fun," she said eerily.

"Nilah, please control yourself," Rouge stated sternly.

"Right, apologies my lady," Nilah said.

"If you have nothing else to report then you may go," Rouge stated.

"That was all my lady," Nilah said.

Nilah then bowed to Rouge before then scaling the wall of the warehouse to get to the roof, once there she ran off. Rouge stood outside and watched her associate go before heading back into the warehouse. When Rouge got back into the warehouse she saw that Neo had returned from the errand Dr. Merlot sent her on, however she brought someone back, not anyone she recognized, just some random person, he was unconscious, tied up, and gagged.

Dr. Merlot turned when he heard the door of the warehouse open, when he saw Rouge, he called her over for her to help.

"Rouge, good timing, help Neo restrain the test subject on the table," Dr. Merlot said.

After helping Neo place the man in a bed equipped with heavy duty metal restraints, Rouge turned to the doctor to speak with him.

"Who is this, a criminal, or just some random person," Rouge asked.

"I don't know and I don't care, I asked Neo to find a test subject and she's brought me one," Dr. Merlot replied.

Rouge became curious, "Test subject for what?" She inquired.

"In the time I haven't been tending to Mr. Torchwick, I've been working on a genetic experiment related to the ones I used to perform on the grimm, while I was happy with the outcomes of those experiments, they proved to be… ineffective," Dr. Merlot stated, "I used to believe that their lack of sentience and unbridled raw aggression made them a superior species… I now see I was wrong, for the grimm to become superior they must become sentient," he continued.

The restrained man awoke and immediately began to freak out and struggle to get loose from the restraints, he tried to scream but he was still gagged so it didn't help.

"Rouge, hand me the syringe on the table," Dr. Merlot said.

Rouge picked up the syringe on the table next to her, it was filled with a strange black liquid, she inspected it for a moment, before handing it to the doctor, upon inspection she saw if had a faint red hue to it.

The man continued to struggle as Dr. Merlot tied off his arm to cut off the circulation and reveal his veins, once he did this he grabbed the syringe from Rouge and inserted it into the man's arm. He injected the black liquid into the man as he continued to struggle, the veins in his forearm blackened upon injection of the liquid. After Merlot removed the band cutting off the man's blood flow the rest of the veins in his body began to blacken as well.

After a few moments, the man's body began to violently convulse and he shook the gag from his mouth, his screams of pain were blood curdling. His whole body began to turn black as boney claws extended from his fingers and toes and white bones similar to grimm armor began to sprout out of his body. The man's blood curdling scream turned to a monstrous roar as his face morphed and became beast-like and his teeth became like those of a predator.

Rouge was horrified by the sight in front of her, she took a step back as Neo and Dr. Merlot held their ground, he was carefully observing the man's transformation while she stood ready to kill it if anything happened.

The man became a beast and it managed to break one of the restraints, before it fully broke free, Neo trust the blade hidden in her umbrella into the thing's face, killing it instantly.

"Hmm… too aggressive, I may have to modify the serum slightly," Dr. Merlot pondered.

"What the hell was that!" Rouge shouted.

Dr. Merlot turned his attention to Rouge, "that, my dear assistant, was science," he said.

A few months had passed since Cyrus and Lucas opened up to Bianca and Alyssa about their true past. Letting it out seemed to help them, whenever it was brought up now it didn't hit them as hard, although, some of the memories still bothered them. Also, since that night, Team BLAC had seen the white clad girl watching them on several more occasions, after a while they started to chase her, but she always managed to slip away from them. They had approached Professor Pine about the situation and he had assured them that they had nothing to fear and it would be taken care of.

On this Sunday evening Team BLAC was practicing in the gym above the combat classes alongside several other students. Across the hall in the firing range the sound of several different firearms could be heard going off, through all of it however, they could hear the distinct high-pitched charging sound of their friend Ebony's rail sniper, Artemis. The last week they had spent cramming for their upcoming midterm exams and today they went extra hard in the gym in preparation of their combat midterm on Tuesday.

The midterm schedule was a bit different from the normal student schedules, all written tests were conducted on Monday, while all combat test were done the next day. The combat tests were by far the most important of all, they could range from the individual duals the students had grown accustom to, to doubles matches, in which you could be paired with anyone from your team, and even full team fights, the type of match each team would fight in was kept secret until the day of the exam. Once the tests were completed, the students were given the rest of the week off to recuperate, as the next week they would go on their first mission. Since some students were going to be going to Mistral this year for the Vytal Festival the first-year missions were pushed forward to the week after mid-terms, as opposed to being a few weeks before the festival.

Since they were all practicing in the gym, Team BLAC had on their workout gear, Bianca had her red sports bra, white and red sweat pants with matching shoes. Alyssa had on a yellow tank top, black yoga shorts, and yellow and black boxing shoes. Cyrus had on a black tank top, black athletic shorts, and his black running shoes. Lucas didn't wear a shirt, he had on gray and blue sweat pants and blue running shoes.

Lucas and Alyssa were in the ring, he was helping with her technique. He was wearing a pair of boxing mitts on his hands and acted as a target for Alyssa.

As Lucas held the mitts, Alyssa struck them with a combo, jab-cross-hook-cross, after she did this he would swing one of his mitted hands at her head and she would quickly duck under it and throw a smaller combo of cross-hook into the mitts.

While Alyssa and Lucas were doing this, Cyrus and Bianca were doing some technical sparing with synthetic versions of their weapons. They weren't worried about winning, just trying to get their technique down. Bianca's fighting style had evolved in the past few months, she used less Atlesian Saber Fencing and more of the Vacuan Saber Fighting, however she didn't neglect the former by any means.

Since the beginning of the year, the practice weapons had been upgraded from wooden ones to new synthetic ones. Theses new synthetic weapons kept in the gym mimicked the wieldiness of the student's actual weapons better than the old wood ones, but they were made to be heavier, as to give the students more of a workout when they trained with them. This added weight would ensure that when students used their actual weapons their strikes would be faster and more powerful since they would become used to compensating for the added weight. However, this added weight also made it more dangerous for training, so students who didn't use weapons to train, like many brawlers did, were not allowed to fight students who used these training weapons. There are also various restrictions on where you could strike an opponent, strikes to the head and neck, groin, and the knees or below were not allowed, also, any strikes to an opponent's body were to be "pulled", especially thrusts and strikes to soft areas of the body.

"Hey Cyrus, why do you think those two have been watching us?" Bianca asked as she locked swords with her partner.

"I have no idea, we'd have to catch one of em' to find out," Cyrus said as he shoved Bianca's sabers away.

"You wanna know what I think is weird," Alyssa said as she hit the target mitts with one final combo.

"What's that?" Cyrus inquired.

"Alright, that's enough Luc," Alyssa said, she then walked over and leaned on the ropes of the ring to speak with her teammates, "You two said there was a guy in black watching you, but recently, all we've seen is a girl in white," she continued.

Bianca and Cyrus ceased their sparring to listen to what Alyssa had to say.

"You think they might be working together?" Bianca inquired.

"If they were, wouldn't we see them together," Lucas cut in.

"True," Cyrus said as he began to ponder to himself.

"Something's going on and I have a bad feeling about it," Alyssa stated.

"I mean, we talked to Professor Pine about it and he said he'd look into it, so he's probably got it under control," Bianca stated.

"I don't know, something about them just gives off bad vibes," Alyssa said.

"Whatever, I'm sure it'll be fine; besides we've got more to worry about at the moment," Lucas stated as he walked over to the weapon rack and picked up a synthetic katana.

Lucas began going through some basic overhead strikes with the weapon to warm up for his own workout, as up to that point he had been helping his partner with hers.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Alyssa said as she wiped the sweat off her face with her towel she had let hang on the ropes while she worked out.

"I'm gonna take a breather for a minute," Bianca said to Cyrus as she sat on a nearby bench.

"Ok," Cyrus replied, "Hey Alyssa you wanna get in a quick spar?" He continued.

"Sure," Alyssa replied.

Cyrus walked up to the ring and leaned his synthetic broadsword against it before climbing into it, while he did this, Alyssa was doing some quick stretches to loosen herself up for the match.

After Cyrus climbed into the ring, he too got in a quick stretch before warming up with some shadow boxing.

"Let me know when you're ready," Alyssa said as she continued to stretch.

"Will do," Cyrus replied as he continued his shadow boxing.

Once the two of them finished warming up they walked to the center of the ring and bumped fists, starting the match.

"First to pin?" Cyrus asked.

"Sounds good," Alyssa replied.

Cyrus and Alyssa circled each other for a moment, each was waiting for the other to make the first move.

Cyrus broke the stalemate as he rushed Alyssa and through a jab at her face.

Alyssa leaned back slightly and to the side, dodging Cyrus' strike, as he continued to throw jabs, she continued to dodge them like this.

Cyrus then threw a haymaker at Alyssa's head, which she skillfully dodged by ducking just under his arm.

After dodging the blow, Alyssa hit Cyrus with a hook-cross combo, knocking him back.

Alyssa took the offensive next, she charged Cyrus and threw a round house kick at his head, which he managed to dodge, she then followed this up with a heal kick, but that too missed its mark.

Cyrus hit Alyssa with a few well-placed punches to the ribs and face, causing her to stumble.

As Cyrus continued to put the pressure on, Alyssa spun down to her hands and gripped Cyrus with her legs, pulling him to the ground.

She attempted to knee Cyrus in the face after bringing him to the ground, but he pushed her off before he could.

Alyssa did a reverse somersault to get back to her feet as Cyrus away pushed her, he also quickly jumped back to his feet by doing a kick up.

The two of them closed the distance and began to trade blows, they threw a variety of punches and kicks at one another, all of which were blocked, parried, or countered with great skill.

Alyssa once again spun down to her hands and gripped Cyrus between her legs, but this time instead of going for a strike to his head, she put him in an armbar.

Cyrus attempted to break out of the armbar, but all his efforts were in vein and he was eventually forced to tap out.

Alyssa let Cyrus go and the two stood up from the floor of the ring, Cyrus began rotating the shoulder of his once pinned arm as the action had caused to become very sore.

"Thank god we're on the same team or I wouldn't be undefeated right now," Cyrus remarked.

"Good match," Alyssa said with a chuckle as she held out her fist.

"Good match," Cyrus replied with a smile as he bumped Alyssa's fist with his own.

Team BLAC continued to train in the gym for a couple more hours, during that time Bianca and Lucas got in a sparring match, both fought hard, but Lucas came out on top. Their training consisted of more than just sparring however, they all did full workouts which included lifting weights, and doing various cardio exercises.

As evening became night, Team BLAC found that they were the only people left in the gym, other than the head trainer, a very kind, yet no nonsense elderly man the students fondly referred to by his nickname, 'Mickey'. In fact, no one knew his real name, he wouldn't tell anyone as he preferred to be called by his nickname.

Team BLAC cleaned up and put away their equipment they had been using and then helped Mickey pick up the equipment left out by some less considerate students. After cleaning up and gathering their belongings they left the gym as Mickey began to lock up.

"See ya Mickey," Cyrus sad with a wave as he and his team walked out of the gym.

"See ya later kids," Mickey replied with his aged voice.

As Team BLAC exited the training halls, they began to walk back to the dorms, unaware of the fact they were being tailed along the way.

The girl in white was trailing them from the shadows, just outside the range of Alyssa's normal semblance levels. She watched them as they talked and joked all the way back to their dormitory. When they entered the building, the girl in white climbed a nearby tree that could see into Team BLAC's room. She continued to watch them as they readied themselves for bed.

When she finished getting ready, Bianca walked to the bookshelf between the bunk beds to look for a book to read before bed. As she browsed the bookshelf, she noticed some movement outside her window, she quickly looked up to investigate, but saw nothing. She went back to browsing the shelf before ultimately landing on a book to read, The Thief and the Butcher.

Bianca grabbed her book and went to lie down and read. When she left from the window, the girl in white peaked back out from behind the tree she had climbed and continued to watch them until they all fell asleep, at which point she climbed down from the tree and snuck away into the night.

Team BLAC awoke the next morning, well rested and ready for their written exams. The schedules were different on this day, so Alyssa and Lucas didn't have to wake up super early for class like they normally did. After getting breakfast with Team AYST in the cafeteria, Lucas and Alyssa headed off with Alani and Yin to their first class of the day. Bianca and Cyrus continued to hang out with Ebony and Roy in the cafeteria for the time being.

"Ugh, I don't know about you guys, but I want this day to hurry up and be over with, so we can get to the combat midterms already," Ebony said.

"You're looking forward to it that much eh?" Roy inquired.

"Hell yeah man, I mean it's the only fun exam," Ebony stated.

"She's not wrong," Cyrus agreed.

"I kinda just wanna skip over the midterms altogether, and get straight to our first mission," Bianca said.

"That would be good too," Ebony stated.

"I say we don't get ahead of ourselves and take things by the book, one step at a time," Roy stated.

"Ha! Leave it to the army brat to wanna take things by the book," Cyrus said mockingly.

"What did I say about calling me that," Roy said with an annoyed tone.

"Oh, and what are you gonna do about it?" Cyrus inquired smugly.

"I really hope I fight you in the combat exam tomorrow," Roy stated confidently.

"Hey, cool it you two, your macho bravado is showing," Ebony stated condescendingly.

When the time for their classes came near, Cyrus and Bianca said goodbye to Ebony and Roy, and headed off to meet their teammates for their Grimm Studies midterm.

Professor Coventina's exams were always hard, but she took it to a whole other level with the midterm exam. She brought out all the stops, trick questions, short answers, and even a short essay were among the things she had on the test. One of the test questions even involved drawing a diagram of weak points on a Grimm's armor, however a certain student was exempt from that part of the test due to their "disability". Professor Arenas' exam was a cake walk compared to Professor Coventina's, however it was still tough. Few of his students were that interested in history and they struggled to remember some of the key dates and moments while they took the exam. Professor Belladonna's exam wasn't as tough as either Professor Arenas' or Professor Coventina's, it was just very long. Blake's exam consisted of four short essays, nothing else. Her students wondered what her definition of short was, to them, five to six pages per essay wasn't short.

Once the written exams were complete, the students divided into roughly two "camps", those who got in some last-minute training for the combat exams tomorrow and those who played it cool for the rest of the day. Teams BLAC and AYST had gone hard in the gym over the weekend and during the previous week in preparation for the combat exams, so they were in the latter of those two "camps".

While the students went through their last-minute preparations, Oscar Pine called Ember Haze to his office to speak with her.

"You wanted to see me Oz," Ember stated as she stepped out of the elevator and into Oscar's clockwork office.

"Yes, I have a couple of matters I wish to discuss with you," Oscar stated and then directed Ember to take a seat at his desk.

"Well, what's up?" Ember inquired as she sat down.

"Two things," Oscar said as he held up two fingers on his hand, "one, since you are one of our few Professors from Mistral, I would like you to accompany our chosen students to Haven Academy for the Vytal Festival this year," he continued.

"Are you sure you want me, Ren is from Mistral too, I'm sure he'd be a better choice, he is the head combat professor after all," Ember stated.

"Ember, you sell yourself too short, Ren recommended you when I approached him about who we should send," Oscar said with a chuckle.

"Really… I'll have to thank him later, ok, I'll go with the students," Ember said, "what was the other matter?" She inquired.

"I would like to conduct a special exam for one of your students," Oscar said.

"Really?" Ember inquired with an intrigued tone.

The next day came and the students flooded the training halls at the times they were given for their exams. Teams BLAC and AYST's class had been assigned the earliest time for their exam, nine o'clock in the morning.

Many of the students seemed anxious as they readied themselves for the exam, others were busy pumping themselves up. The reason the students felt this way was not only did this exam weigh heavily on their grades, this exam in particular was special. Professor Pine payed close attention to the combat midterms as they would help him decide the sixteen teams that would travel to Mistral and represent Beacon in the Vytal Festival.

The students all had their own ways of pumping themselves up and getting in the right mindset for battle. Cyrus and Lucas were each kneeling and saying a prayer together, Yin was meditating, Alyssa and Ebony were listening to heavy fast passed music on their scrolls, Bianca was mentally coaching herself, Roy made sure his combat outfit was perfectly straight and his boots were shined and polished to perfection, and Alani was doing her island's variation of the haka, her people's traditional war dance and chant, Tika Tonu.

Time soon came for the exams to start, the students finished psyching themselves up for them and headed for their classroom, on the way there, there was no talking, no horseplay, joking, or anything, the silence had certain seriousness about it, the students meant business today.

Professor Haze greeted the students as they entered the room, she had a large tablet scroll hooked on her belt next to her calabash. Once the students took their seats, she walked to the center of the combat stage to address them.

"Welcome students, as you know today is your combat midterm exam, I'm sure you're all aware of the gravity of this exam," Professor Haze said and then began to pace back and forth, "your performance here today will be evaluated and ultimately be one of the deciding factors of who gets to travel to Haven Academy for the Vytal Festival at the end of the year," she continued.

Several of the students got confident grins on their faces, they were sure that they were going to pass the exam with flying colors and be chosen to represent Beacon Academy in Mistral.

Professor Haze ceased her pacing and opened the large tablet scroll she was carrying, "if you all will open your scrolls I'm sending you the match-ups for the exam," she said as she began typing on her scroll.

The students pulled out their scrolls as they were instructed to do and began looking through the match-ups, Team BLAC in particular was interested in who they would fight. They looked through the listings for their names, they were; Single Dual: Alyssa Xiao Long vs Apollo Stone, and Doubles: Bianca Rose and Lucas Grey vs Roy Stallion and Yin Okami.

Upon seeing his match-up, Lucas shot Roy a confident smirk.

Cyrus had a confused look on his face as he scrolled through the listings, after a few moments he addressed his combat professor.

"Professor Haze," he said, gaining her attention.

"What is it Cyrus?" Professor Haze asked.

"It's just, I can't find my name on the match-up list, is there a problem with it?" He inquired

"Oh no Cyrus, Osca… err, Professor Pine and I have a special test in mind for our only undefeated first-year," she replied with a grin.

"Okay…" Cyrus said in a slightly confused tone.

The midterms started soon after the match-ups were revealed. None of the members of Teams BLAC or AYST were called up at first and neither were their opponents.

The first of them called up were Alani and Ebony who were fighting in the 'Doubles' category. They fought incredibly well, they read each other's movements and functioned like a well-oiled machine, their opponents didn't stand a chance.

Next up was a 'Single Dual', Alyssa vs Apollo. The two of them made their way to the combat stage and stood across from each other.

"Hope you're ready for this beat down blondie," Apollo boasted.

"So confident, hopefully you can give me at least a light workout," Alyssa retorted.

Professor Haze signaled the start of the fight and quickly vacated the stage.

Alyssa let loose a hail of dust rounds at Apollo as he charged forward at her.

Apollo skillfully ducked and dodged through the rounds as he closed the distance to Alyssa, when he was nearly within punching distance, he blocked two more rounds from Shadow Celica with his armored boxing gloves.

Alyssa threw a kick, accelerated by a shot from Hidden Flame, at Apollo, which he quickly dodged with a lean back.

Apollo then began to throw heavy knockout punches at Alyssa's face, most of which she managed to block or parry.

Alyssa was knocked back by one of these punches and she took a second to recuperate and regain her composure.

Over the course of the semester, Alyssa had paid attention to the other brawlers in her class, especially Apollo after what he and his partner had done to her cousin. She found that he had a similar fighting style to that of her brother, however unlike Cerin, who preferred to dance around his opponent and whittle them down with quick light strikes, once Apollo got in close, he liked to hold the middle ground and throw slow and heavy blows.

After regaining her composure, Alyssa saw that Apollo was taunting her with a 'come here' motion from his fist.

Alyssa got a smug smile on her face and then charged forward with the help of shots fired from Hidden Flame.

Apollo went in for a clothesline when Alyssa got close, but as he threw his strike she slid down to her knees and limboed under it.

From her position close to the ground, Alyssa pushed off one of her hands as she fired another shot from Hidden Flame, accelerating a kick into Apollo's back, knocking him down.

Alyssa quickly somersaulted back to a standing position as Apollo picked himself up off the ground, both of their auras were about half depleted by now after the powerful strikes they landed on one another.

The two closed the distance once more and began trading blows, Apollo threw standard boxing combos similar to the ones Alyssa had been practicing, while she mixed in punches with roundhouse and spinning kicks.

After the engagement, their auras were significantly lower, close to bordering the red zone, both their auras began to glow however, and Alyssa's eyes turned red.

With their auras now glowing vibrantly, the two combatants charged one another.

Alyssa used her semblance to predict and counter Apollo's punches, but as their engagement grew longer, Apollo's strikes grew faster and faster, it appeared that he activated his semblance, Lightning Strike.

These lightning fast blows knocked Alyssa back, dropping her aura to barely above the red zone, however she didn't have much to fear as Apollo was in a similar situation with his.

Alyssa charged in one final time, as she got close she dodged the first of Apollo's punches and dropped low to the ground, after this she sent a spinning heel kick into Apollo's jaw, dropping his Aura into the red zone.

"Whoo, you actually made me break a sweat," Alyssa said as she caught her breath and walked off the stage and back to her seat.

"Alyssa, congratulations on the win, you get top marks for the exam," Professor Haze said as she typed away on her tablet scroll, "Apollo, you did good as well, but you could've done better," she continued.

The day ground on as no other members of Teams BLAC or AYST were called up to fight. They sat and watched the various matches, the most exciting were the 'Single Duals' while the 'Team Battles' were the most interesting to watch. Seeing how the members of each team read each other's movements and timed their strikes accordingly, all with little use of verbal communication. Finally, the final 'Doubles' match was called up, Bianca and Lucas vs Roy and Yin.

The four students made their way to the arena and readied themselves for their midterm match, Lucas lined up across from Roy and Bianca across from Yin.

"Whatever you do, try to avoid eye contact with Yin," Lucas said as he drew the katana half of Masamune.

"I know," Bianca replied as she drew Summer and Winter and then flipped them around in her hands.

Professor Haze signaled for the match to begin and then vacated the stage.

"Hey Roy," Yin said.

Roy looked to Yin as he activated his semblance, turning his pupils into Taos.

"Peace be upon you," Yin said, giving good fortune to Roy.

Roy's eyes quickly flashed into Taos before returning to their natural dark brown color.

Lucas and Bianca charged Yin and Roy, upon seeing this Yin drew both Order and Chaos from their holsters and opened fire on them.

Roy snapped his fingers, igniting flames in his hands and he proceeded to launch fireballs from Vulcan at Lucas.

Lucas dodged Roy's fireballs and got in close to strike him with his katana, as he did, Roy drew Ares from its sheath and parried Lucas' strike.

Every strike Lucas threw at Roy just barely missed its mark, while Roy struck Lucas with some lucky hits.

Yin continued to fire at Bianca as she charged him, Yin's rounds bounced off Summer and Winter as she weaved them around her body giving herself a protective shield.

Bianca got in close and delivered a long thrust to Yin's chest, knocking him back, he quickly regained his composure and rushed in to fight Bianca, shifting Chaos and Order into their dagger forms.

The two closed the distance, the strikes they threw at one another were blocked, parried, and countered with great skill.

Over this engagement, Bianca had accidently made eye contact with Yin, when she did this he activated his semblance once more.

"I sense much conflict within you," he said as his eyes became Taos.

Bianca's eyes flashed into Taos before returning to their silver color, after this she missed a parry and was hit quite hard, causing her aura to drop and to also be knocked back.

Cursing Bianca with misfortune caused Roy to lose the good fortune he had been given through Yin's semblance, despite this, Roy still put Lucas on the backfoot in their fight.

Lucas leapt back from Roy as he slashed at him with his saber, meanwhile Bianca used her semblance to get away from Yin, it left a light rain of white rose petals where she had been standing.

Bianca and Lucas stood side by side as they tried to formulate a new plan of attack to deal with their opponents.

"Yin got me," Bianca said to her teammate.

"Damn," Lucas said in frustration.

"Hey, maybe we can use it against them," Bianca said.

"How?" Lucas asked.

"No time to explain, just follow my lead, we're gonna take out Yin first," Bianca stated.

Lucas nodded at his leader and then drew the tanto half of Masamune from its sheath, wielding it in a reverse grip.

They each charged back at their respective opponents to engage them in melee once more.

Yin opened fire at Bianca as she charged him, when she got relatively close she activated her semblance and shot forward like a speeding bullet.

When Bianca got close to Yin, the misfortune he cursed her with kicked in, but she planned for this.

As Bianca rushed forwards she tripped and fell, but she fell into Yin causing him to fall as well, this was the moment Lucas was waiting for, he disengaged from Roy and shot a glyph under his own feet, enhancing his jump height.

Once in the air, Lucas combined his katana and tanto into Masamune's Yumi Bow form and fired two volleys of exploding fire arrows at Yin.

Just before the arrows hit their mark, Bianca dashed away from Yin. Lucas' arrows hit Yin before he could get up and compose himself, the force of the explosions decimated his aura and sent it plummeting to the red zone.

With Yin now out of the fight, it left Roy to fight Bianca and Lucas on his own, and the misfortune Bianca had been cursed with wore off.

Lucas split his weapon back into their separate forms, and Bianca combined Summer and Winter to form her scythe.

Roy stood stoic as a mountain in the face of a typhoon, he presented Ares to his opponents and dared them to attack.

Lucas and Bianca charged Roy as he held his ground, as they got close, he activated the left half of Vulcan and covered his left hand in ice.

Bianca swung her scythe at Roy as Lucas swung his katana at him as well, Roy skillfully blocked both strikes, he locked swords with Lucas and grabbed Bianca' scythe with his icy fist.

Lucas then struck Roy with his tanto, forcing him to retreat.

Lucas and Bianca gave Roy no quarter as they rushed him once more.

Seeing no way out of the situation, Roy activated his semblance and slowed his perception of time, when his opponents began to attack, he anticipated their strikes and was able to dodge or parry most of them.

Lucas was knocked back from Roy during the engagement, he quickly shot a speed glyph under Bianca's feet, causing her to move even faster than she had ever before.

Roy was left defenseless by this, as now Bianca's movements and strikes were so fast that within Roy's semblance she appeared to be moving as fast as she normally did when using her semblance.

Bianca struck Roy dozens of times as she spun her scythe around her body, he could no longer anticipate her moves, and his aura was dropped into the red zone, ending the fight.

"Lucas, Bianca, great teamwork, you get top marks," Professor Haze said as she typed away at her tablet scroll, "Roy, Yin, you also get top marks, excellent use of your semblances," she continued.

As the four former combatants headed back to their seats, Professor Haze walked to the center of the combat stage to address the class.

"Ok class we have one final exam to conduct," Professor Haze said before locking her gaze on Cyrus, "Cyrus if you would please make your way to the stage," she continued.

Cyrus made his way down to the combat stage as instructed, his long black trench-coat flowing lightly as he did, when he reached the combat stage the lights reflected off his steel breast plate and illuminated it like the moon in the night sky.

"As you all know, Cyrus here is the only undefeated first-year student left this semester, so Professor Pine and I figured a true test of his skills would be against an opponent of equal measure," Professor Haze said and then turned towards the exit at the back of the combat stage, "you may come out now," she continued.

A very familiar face walked into the room, Roy's older sister, Yaara. She wore a similar outfit to that of her brother, a silver-blue collared military coat with matching military dress pants, a white military dress belt with a stiff looking silver-blue waist cape hanging off it, white military dress gloves, and black patent leather heeled boots that were polished to perfection. The way she walked showed she was serious. Normally she had the presence of an average student, not very imposing, but the way she carried herself today, in this moment, she could rival any Atlesian military commander, even the formidable General Winter Schnee.

"Cyrus, your opponent will be Yaara Stallion, the top combat student in the academy," Professor Haze said, "this will count as both of your midterms and if you lose, it will be counted, so don't expect Yaara to go easy on you," she continued.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Yaara stated.

"Ok, well, let's do this," Cyrus said confidently as he drew Caliburn from its sheath on his back.

Yaara activated her weapon, Razor, and a pair of what appeared to be sword blades shot out above her wrists, from inside her sleeves. They extended a full foot and a half passed her knuckles.

Professor Haze started the final fight and quickly vacated the stage.

Yaara and Cyrus charged each other and locked weapons as soon as they got close, while they were locked Cyrus struck Yaara in the stomach with a straight heel kick, knocking her away.

Yaara reeled back from this struck, but she quickly shook it off and charged back into the fight.

Yaara threw a few slashes at Cyrus, strikes he quickly parried and countered, the two continued to exchange blows for a few moments before backing off from one another.

Cyrus saw his sword wasn't doing enough damage to his opponent, so he flipped it around and griped it by the blade turning it into a makeshift mace.

Cyrus charged Yaara and swung the heavy cross guard and hilt assembly down upon her, but she blocked his murderstroke with an overhead cross block.

Cyrus quickly reversed his grip on Caliburn and struck Yaara in the chin with an uppercut from the blade.

Yaara pulled back for a moment to regain her composure.

"Okay, were gonna play like that are we," she said with a confident smile.

Yaara quickly flicked her arms and the blades of Razor segmented, they began to drop from her sleeves and coil on the ground next to her feet before a pair of grips dropped from her sleeves, grips she quickly grabbed. This was Razor's second form, a pair of razor whips.

Yaara cracked the whips in the air, the sound was near deafening as the tips of her weapons broke the sound barrier.

Cyrus shifted Caliburn into its auto shotgun form and began to fire at Yaara.

Yaara spun one of her whips around her body like a ballerina would spin their ribbon, blocking all of Cyrus' rounds.

Yaara then cracked one of her whips at Cyrus, causing him to cease firing his weapon, he had barely managed to dodge Yaara's strike.

Cyrus shifted Caliburn back into its broadsword form and charged Yaara, but before he could get close she slapped him with one of her whips and knocked him to the ground.

Yaara didn't let up, she cracked Cyrus with her whips and whittled away at his aura, but he wasn't done yet.

Cyrus popped the ball shaped metal pommel off Caliburn and threw it at Yaara.

She knocked the object away with ease, but this was a mere distraction, before she knew it, Cyrus had closed the distance and gotten inside her whips.

He gripped his sword with one hand on the blade and the other on the handle and began to stab at his opponent, striking her several times and dropping her aura.

Yaara threw a quick kick to Cyrus' ribs, causing him to stagger, giving her enough time to get some distance between herself and him.

With one quick crack of her whip she wrapped one around Cyrus' blade and began to tug on it to disarm him, but his grip held tight.

Yaara then struck Cyrus with her second whip, successfully disarming him and dropping his aura dangerously low.

Yaara then walked closer to Cyrus, her arms held out wide and her whips dragging on the floor, she stopped mere feet from her opponent.

In an instant six golden copies of Yaara surrounded Cyrus along with the original, this was her semblance, Combat Clones.

As Yaara moved to crack her whip at Cyrus, the clones followed suit.

In desperation, Cyrus activated his own semblance and created a barrier around himself, but his aura was to low and the barrier began to crack as Yaara and her clones struck it.

After a mere seven seconds Cyrus' barrier broke, sending all the damage it had sustained back onto his body and completely shattering his aura, after another three seconds, Yaara's clones disappeared.

Cyrus got up slowly, he was in a bit off pain from Yaara's last attack, but it wasn't bad though, maybe a few cuts and bruises at the worst.

As Cyrus struggled to pick himself up, Yaara walked over and helped him from the ground, she had a large smile on her face, not a smug one, but one of genuine joy.

"Good match, I haven't had that tough of a fight since my second year," Yaara said.

Cyrus looked from her to the screen that displayed the combatant's aura levels, while his was completely gone Yaara's was at one-sixth of its full strength.

"Good work, the both of you, top marks," Professor Haze said, "and Cyrus, you did better than I expected," she continued.

Teams BLAC and AYST's midterms were now complete and they took some much-needed rest and relaxation. They would need it, for their first missions were in less than a week.


	12. The Chase

Chapter Twelve: The Chase

Bianca was woken the morning after her midterms by her teammates, they had gotten up a few minutes before her, they were all in separate stages of getting ready to go out for the day. Bianca slowly rose out of bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes as she tried to wake herself up amidst the light commotion in her room.

"Good morning guys," Bianca said through a yawn.

"Hey, B, hurry up and get ready, we're gonna go get breakfast at Sonny's," Alyssa said as she tied her shoes.

Bianca lazily grabbed her casual outfit from the drawers below her bunk and headed into her dorm's personal bathroom to wash up. After about thirty minutes, Bianca emerged from the bathroom ready to go, her hair was done the way she liked it with her simple ponytail hanging down onto her left shoulder and the tiny bit of makeup she wore was perfect, all she had to do was throw her shoes on, which she did promptly after leaving the bathroom.

"You guys wanna see if Al and her team wants to come to?" Cyrus asked.

"Sure, the more the merrier," Alyssa said, "plus I think Sonny would appreciate new customers," she continued.

"He always does," Lucas added with a snicker.

Team BLAC exited their room, and were met by Ebony and Roy doing the same. Ebony had on her combat outfit, like Lucas' it could double as casual clothes, her dark aviator sunglasses were on her forehead above the blue bandana headband she regularly wore, showing off her beautiful blue and green heterochromic eyes. While Roy had on a fitting white T-shirt, sliver-blue cargo pants, and black combat boots.

"Hey guys, perfect timing," Cyrus said.

"Perfect timing for what?" Roy asked.

"We were wondering if you wanted to head into town and get some breakfast with us," Bianca said.

"Sure, I'm down," Ebony said.

"Why not," Roy stated with a shrug.

"Where are Al and Yin, we were gonna invite them too?" Alyssa asked.

"Oh, yeah…" Ebony said with a light laugh, "the love birds wanted some alone time for a couple hours," she continued.

"Whys that?" Bianca inquired.

Ebony tilted her head slightly and gave Bianca a 'think about it' expression.

Bianca was still a bit confused by the situation even after she had thought about it, her team however knew immediately what Ebony meant.

"Bianca, have you never had a boyfriend?" Cyrus asked, "err… or a girlfriend if you swing that way," he quickly added.

"Is there something wrong with the prospect with a girl liking girls instead of boys?" Ebony asked curiously.

"What… no, not at all," Cyrus quickly replied, "why Eb, do you like girls?" he asked.

"Honey, I'm a switch hitter, if you know what I mean," she replied.

"I still don't understand what's going on," Bianca stated.

"Oh, B, you're so innocent it's adorable," Alyssa said as she threw her arm over her cousin's shoulder, "have Aunt Weiss and Aunt Ruby never given you 'the talk'?" She inquired.

"What 'talk'?" Bianca asked nervously.

Alyssa got a huge grin on her face and then began to whisper in Bianca's ear, as she did this, Bianca's face turned seven shades of red.

"Ok, that's enough, I get it, let's go!" Bianca said quickly as she pushed her cousin away and began to march down the hall, still as red as a ripe strawberry.

Alyssa and Ebony looked at each other and immediately broke out into laughter as they and their teammates followed Bianca down the hall and eventually out of the dorms.

Team BLAC along with their friends Roy and Ebony rode a Bullhead transport down to the city, along the way, Ebony and Roy asked about where they were going to go for breakfast.

"So, where's it you planned to eat?" Ebony asked.

"It's this place Cyrus and Lucas showed us a while back, Sonny's Diner, the food is to die for," Alyssa said.

"Yeah, the owner and staff are really nice too," Bianca added.

"Food to die for? We'll see about that," Roy stated skeptically as he crossed his arms.

"Really Roy?" Ebony questioned her partner before turning back to Team BLAC, "sorry, rich boy here thinks since his family has a bit of money he's seen it all," she continued.

Bianca giggled lightly before speaking, "it's ok, my mom can be the same way sometimes."

After around a thirty-minute ride, the Bullhead landed at the transport station and Team BLAC, Ebony, and Roy got off. After thanking the pilot for the ride, they began to walk to their destination.

As they walked to Sonny's Diner, they passed by the bar their combat professor frequented, the same bar which's window she threw a large burley man through. As they walked by, they peered through the window, and sure enough, Ember Haze was inside, she was arm-wrestling a very large beast of a man and barely breaking a sweat. After a few moments she nonchalantly slammed the man's arm onto the table and then grabbed a wad of cash from it.

After passing the bar, the six of them heard the sounds of conflict and a man was thrown through the window behind them. The large crash made them wince slightly, but they continued walking, knowing full well Professor Haze could easily handle a few "tough guys".

Team BLAC and company continued walking for a few more blocks before coming up to their destination. When they entered the diner, they were greeted by Sonny's hostess, Daisy. She didn't immediately notice they had walked in, as she had her back turned and was organizing the stack of menus behind her.

"Hey, Daisy, how's it going?" Cyrus asked as he walked up to the podium Daisy was standing behind.

Daisy jumped slightly when Cyrus addressed her, "oh hey, sorry I didn't notice you come in, how can I help you?" She asked after turning around.

When Daisy turned to address Cyrus, Ebony pushed her sunglasses down slightly and began checking out the young hostess.

"We'd like a table for six please, maybe one of those semicircle booths," Cyrus replied.

"Very well, please follow me," she said as she grabbed six menus from behind her.

After leading the six of them to their seat, Daisy informed them that a server would be right with them and walked away. Ebony turned in her seat and continued to check her out as she walked back to the podium at the front of the diner.

"She's a cutie," Ebony said as she turned back around to her friends and placed her sunglasses up on her forehead.

"Must you always gawk at people when we go out?" Roy asked.

"What can I say, I like to browse," Ebony replied with a shrug.

Cyrus chuckled lightly and then leaned towards Ebony, "you know, Lucas used to have a crush on her."

"Oh really," Ebony said with curiosity.

"Cyrus. Shut. Up," Lucas scolded.

"Yup, completely head over heels for her," Cyrus chuckled.

"I woulda never thought Luc to be the kinda guy to fall for someone," Alyssa cut in.

"Can we not talk about this," Lucas said with an annoyed tone.

"Don't be like that bro, I'm just havin' a little fun," Cyrus said with a smile.

"Yeah, at my expense, so please stop," Lucas replied.

"Your just sad because she rejected you," Cyrus stated.

Lucas looked down in despair at the table they were sitting around, "you're not wrong, but can we please not talk about that."

"Ok, I'm sorry man," Cyrus said with a chuckle.

"Well, why'd she reject you?" Ebony inquired.

"She likes girls," Lucas said in a saddened tone.

"Really?" Ebony asked rhetorically with intrigue.

It was then that their server arrived to take their order. He was a ram faunus, his trait being a pair of ram horns coming from just above his forehead and curling down to the sides of his head. He couldn't have been much older than any of them. He was as tall as Lucas and possessed an athletic looking build. His skin was tanned, his hair was a light brown color, his eyes were pale yellow, and his face was handsomely smooth looking. He wore black square-framed eyeglasses, black slacks, with a light gray dress shirt, a black and gray pinstriped suit vest, and a small black apron around his waist that held a notepad and some pens in its pockets.

"Hello, my name is Rahm, welcome to Sonny's diner, may I get you all started with some drinks?" He said.

The young server began to write down everyone's drink orders, Bianca, Alyssa, and Roy all got tea, while Lucas and Cyrus ordered coffee. Meanwhile, Ebony went back and forth between looking at her menu and checking out the handsome faunus boy.

"And what will you be having today miss?" Rahm asked Ebony after taking the order of one of her companions.

"Two things," she said with a sly smile, "I have a cup of coffee, and I'll take your number," she continued.

Rahm paused for a moment in confusion as he had begun to write down the second thing Ebony said before he noticed what it was.

"Um… excuse me?" He asked with a confused tone.

"You heard me right, I'd like a coffee and your scroll number," Ebony said flirtatiously.

Their server had gotten a bit flustered from this, meanwhile Roy was facepalming at his partner's antics and all of Team BLAC, except Lucas were snickering at their friend.

"Please, don't mind her, she's just a flirt," Alyssa said through a light laugh.

Their server turned red from nervousness, "I'll be right out with your drinks," he said quickly.

The server then quickly walked away from their table and headed off to the kitchen to fix their drinks.

"Eb, you play too much, you know that?" Cyrus stated.

"I can't help it, it's just who I am," Ebony replied.

"I'll say," Roy said.

After a few minutes Rahm returned to Team BLAC, Ebony, and Roy with their drinks, and took their breakfast orders, Alyssa got a tuna omelet, Bianca got a short stack with a side of bacon, Roy got steak and eggs, Cyrus ordered a breakfast skillet, Lucas ordered biscuits and gravy with a side of sausage, and Ebony ordered a three meat, egg, and cheese breakfast bowl. Once Rahm took their orders, and was about to walk away, Ebony winked at him flirtatiously, and caused him to blush deeply.

Around twenty minutes passed before their food came, once it did, surprisingly Ebony didn't flirt with the server this time around. Once he left they all dug into their food.

"Oh my god, this food is amazing," Ebony said after eating her first few bites.

The delectable and mouthwatering taste of the food mesmerized Roy, he couldn't concentrate on anything else.

"We told you guys it was good," Bianca said.

"Good is an understatement, this is fantastic," Ebony stated as she took another bite.

"Well I'm glad you like it," a voice called from next to the group.

"Hey, Sonny, what's going on?" Cyrus said after swallowing the food he was chewing.

"Just making my rounds, checking up on the customers," he replied, "who are your friends that like my food so much?" He continued.

"These are Ebony Tacari and Roy Stallion, they're a couple of friends from Beacon," Cyrus said.

"Ah, your fellow hunters in training, well, any friends of the Grey brothers are friends of mine," Sonny said.

"Thank you, it's a pleasure to meet you Sonny," Ebony said.

"Mhmm," Roy replied, his mouth still full of food.

"The pleasure's mine, now I'll let you get back to your meals," Sonny said with a smile before continuing to make his rounds around the diner and check up on the customers.

After Sonny left them, Cyrus and Lucas told Ebony and Roy the story of how they met Sonny, however, unlike when they told Bianca and Alyssa, neither Roy nor Ebony were all to curious about how much money they borrowed to have to work in his kitchen for a month when Sonny bailed them out.

Once the six of them finished their meals, Rahm brought them their bill, attached to the bill was a smaller piece of paper with a scroll number on it. As soon as she noticed the paper, Ebony grabbed it and got a large smile on her face. They then walked to the register at the front of the restaurant and paid for their meals before leaving. As they passed by Daisy on their way out, Ebony shot her a quick wink and made her blush slightly.

"So, you guys wanna do anything else before we head back?" Alyssa asked the group.

"Movie?" Cyrus asked the group.

Alyssa 'looked' at Cyrus, her body language showed she was slightly disgruntled.

"Oh right, sorry," he said.

"I don't know, after that meal, I just wanna head back to the dorms and relax, maybe hit the rec room later," Bianca said.

"Yeah, same," Roy said.

"Hey, if Al and Yin are still going twenty toes when we get back, ya mind if we chill with you in your dorm for a little bit?" Ebony asked.

Alyssa, Lucas, and Cyrus all chuckled a bit at Ebony's question, while Bianca was still none the wiser on the subject.

"Sure, you can hang with us if that's the case," Alyssa replied.

The six of them began walking back to the transport station to head back up to Beacon. Along the way back they browsed a few stores, but they didn't buy anything. While they walked, they were being tailed by Nilah, she stayed behind them, and moved with the crowds of people to try and avoid detection.

As they reached an intersection, Alyssa's cat ears twitched slightly as she sensed someone was following them, Nilah had slipped up and come in range of Alyssa's normal semblance level. Alyssa didn't make it known that she knew she and her companions were being followed, but she boosted her semblance slightly to keep track of them.

Lucas then noticed his partner's eyes had turned from white to red, when he went to ask her about it, she quietly shushed him.

"We're being followed," she whispered, "pass it along," she continued quietly.

Lucas nodded slightly and carefully and quietly informed his companions of the situation. Roy and Ebony were a bit confused, but they stayed quiet as to not give away they knew they were being followed.

After Bianca heard this, she began to look around to try and find a way to catch their stalker. She then noticed they were coming up on another intersection and she made small hand signs by her side, signaling for her team and friends to head around the corner. Once they headed around the corner, they got ready to jump their stalker.

Nilah turned the corner and found all of Team BLAC along with Ebony and Roy staring her down. After a second, she turned around and took off running.

"Oh no you don't, you're not getting away this time!" Alyssa shouted as she took off running after the girl in white.

The rest of Team BLAC along with Ebony and Roy followed Alyssa and they began to chase Nilah through the crowded city streets of Vale.

Nilah shoved people out of the way as she ran down the street, while Team BLAC and company tried their best to weave through the side walk traffic. There were too many people on the sidewalks for either Bianca or Lucas to use their semblances effectively and safely to catch their target.

Nilah ran through an intersection and a car barely stopped before it hit her, but she was unfazed by it and continued running. Shortly after, her pursuers came up to the intersection and ran around or jumped over the car that almost hit Nilah.

"Watch where you're going!" The car's driver shouted angrily.

"Sorry," Bianca hastily apologized as she ran past the car.

They continued to chase Nilah for another block on that street, dodging and weaving through dozens of civilians as they went about their days.

Nilah came to the end of the block, when she did this she grasped a light pole and swung around the corner to the adjacent street, Team BLAC and company followed her.

"What street is this?" Bianca asked as she and her companions continued to run after their target.

"West 6th, why?" Roy said, as he started to huff and puff from running.

"Lucas, at the next intersection cut left then make your first right, I'm gonna head right, we'll cut her off, at the roundabout," Bianca said.

The street they were chasing their former pursuer on led to a five-way roundabout intersection, it would be the only real shot they would have to catch the girl in white. The streets Lucas and Bianca planned to head down were normally uncongested by foot traffic.

Lucas nodded in agreement to Bianca's plan.

As Nilah ran she came upon a restaurant with an outdoor dining area, she leapt onto the tables of the dining area and began to run through it, knocking the diners over and ruining their meals, Alyssa did the same, halfheartedly apologizing the entire time, while the rest of her team and friends ran around it.

As they came to the next intersection, Nilah passed it while Lucas and Bianca executed the first part of their plan and broke off from the chase to cut off Nilah.

Alyssa, Roy, Cyrus, and Ebony continued to chase Nilah along the road toward the roundabout intersection.

Once they hit the first corner they were to turn on, Bianca activated her speed semblance, and Lucas placed a speed glyph under himself, increasing his running speed, however, he was nowhere near as fast as Bianca.

As they came up to the roundabout, there was some construction going on one of the buildings, so there were naturally some workers walking around on some scaffoldings over the sidewalks.

As Nilah ran under these she quickly pulled out a metal war fan and sliced through some of the scaffolding's supports causing them to fall and block her pursuers' way.

As the scaffoldings fell, so did the workers on them, Nilah's four pursuers were forced to save the workers from falling before continuing the chase.

Alyssa leapt into the air and grabbed one of the falling workers before he hit the ground.

Cyrus slid under some falling debris and cushioned the fall of a worker with one of his aura barriers.

Roy held his hands together as Ebony stepped into them and he launched her into the air, she then grabbed two of the workers before they fell.

Saving the workers caused Nilah to get quite a ways ahead of her pursuers, but the four of them continued to pursue her once the workers were safely on the ground.

Nilah reached the roundabout, just as Bianca cut her off.

"Gotcha!" Bianca said as she slid to a stop in front of Nilah.

As Bianca was about to grab her, Nilah front-flipped over her, pushing off Bianca's head, causing her to stumble and nearly fall.

"Hey, no fair!" Bianca yelled as she regained her balance and rejoined the main chase.

Nilah headed for an alleyway at the opposite end of the roundabout, dodging and jumping over cars and other vehicles the entire way.

As she reached the alley, Lucas cut her off and managed to tackle her down to the ground.

As the rest of Team BLAC, Ebony, and Roy got to the alley, Lucas had pinned Nilah up against a wall, awaiting their arrival.

Nilah's hood was down, so they could all see her face. A large manic smile and light blue eyes that screamed psycho graced her youthful pale white face.

"Who are you!? Why are you stalking us!? Who's the boy in black!?" Alyssa shouted as she walked up to where Lucas was pinning the girl.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Nilah replied condescendingly, the large manic smile still gracing her face.

"Tell us now or I'm gonna beat that creepy grin off your face," Alyssa commanded as she punched the wall next to Nilah's head.

Nilah wasn't scared at all by Alyssa's threat. After being threatened, she began to cackle psychotically.

"You know, I really enjoyed today, that chase was fun, let me go and we can have more fun," Nilah said creepily.

"You're not going anywhere," Lucas said as he pulled her back from the wall and slammed her against it with force.

Nilah didn't seem to be affected by this as she just looked Lucas in the eyes and chuckled manically. Her eyes quickly moved towards the roof of one of the building that made up the walls of the alley, and then back to Lucas, her smile growing larger when this happened.

"Lucas look out!" Ebony shouted.

Lucas quickly let go of Nilah and jumped back as a large serrated blade shot between them and planted itself into the wall next to where he had been standing, had he not moved it would've taken his arms off.

Team BLAC and their friends looked to the rooftop as they saw Jet, the boy in black that had been watching Cyrus and Bianca.

He dropped from the rooftop to the ground and stood next Nilah. Their outfits were near identical, the only difference being the color and Nilah's chest wrappings.

"Hello brother," Nilah said manically.

"Hello sister," Jet replied apathetically, "our lady requests both our presences immediately," he continued.

"Aww, I was just starting to have some fun too," Nilah pouted.

"It's urgent my dearest sister," Jet said plainly.

"Ok, I guess I'll have to have fun with them later," Nilah said with a shrug.

Jet and Nilah took a few steps backwards into a dark shadow and a black mist formed around their bodies.

"Oh no you don't!" Bianca yelled as she activated her semblance to try and grab the two of them.

Jet and Nilah disappeared just as Bianca reached where they were, she flew through the mist as it dissipated and hit a wall of the other side of it, stopping her in her tracks.

"B!" Alyssa yelled as she ran to her cousin, "are you ok!" She asked frantically as she reached her cousin.

"I'll be fine," Bianca said in a bit of pain as she picked herself off the ground with help from her cousin.

"Ok. So many questions, first… Who the hell were they?!" Ebony asked loudly.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Cyrus replied as he walked over to the serrated blade embedded into the wall and pried it out.

A few hours later, Teams BLAC and AYST were gathered in Team BLACs dorm discussing what had happened. Alani and Yin had finished their 'date' by the time Team BLAC and their teammates returned from their outing in the city. While they were gathered together, Team BLAC told Team AYST what had been going on, even though they didn't know much about the people pursuing them.

"So, these people, that girl in white and boy in black have been watching you four since the beginning of the semester?" Ebony inquired.

"As far as we know, yea," Lucas said, "we know that they've been watching us since initiation, but they could've been for longer than that," he continued.

"What do you all know about them?" Yin asked.

"About as much as we've told you, or we found out today," Alyssa said as she leaned against her dorm's bookshelf.

"So, basically that they're siblings, working together, and for someone," Alani said.

"Basically," Alyssa replied.

"But who are they working for is the real question?" Ebony asked as she began to think to herself.

While they were talking, Cyrus was lying in his bunk inspecting the blade he pried from the alley wall. Other than the serrations which went all the way around the blade, the overall shape was like that of a leaf, and about twenty-four inches long, or around two and half times shorter than Caliburn's overall length. Engraved on both sides of the blade was a symbol, a theater mask, the right half expressing no emotion whatsoever, while the left half was blank, only the mask's outline was on this side.

"What do you think Cyrus?" Alyssa asked.

Cyrus let the blade rest on his chest as he continued to lie in his bunk and stare at the ceiling, he let out a sigh before he replied to his teammate.

"I have no friggin' clue," he replied.

"Well that doesn't help," Alyssa said as she began rub her temples from the stress of the situation.

"I'm scared guys… I'm really scared," Bianca said as she shivered lightly.

"B, it'll be ok, I'll admit they were creepy as hell," Alyssa said.

"Especially that girl," Ebony cut in.

"Yea, especially the girl," Alyssa agreed, "anyway, B, there's no reason to be scared, if they try to hurt anyone, I'll beat the hell out of em'… with each other," Alyssa continued.

"I'm with Alyssa," Alani stated, she then stood and placed her clinched fist over her heart, "I swear on my honor as a Princess of the House of Kamehameha and a Warrior of the Southern Isles, I'll stand by you guys through your time of need," she continued.

"Well, you heard her," Ebony said and then walked to stand next to Alani, "we got your guy's backs, no matter what," she stated.

Roy and Yin then stood next to their partners and backed them up on their promise to help Team BLAC whenever and wherever.

"Thanks guys, that means a lot," Bianca said.

The rest of Team BLAC also accepted Team AYST's pledge.

Jet and Nilah arrived at the warehouse after their brief confrontation with Team BLAC, Ebony, and Roy. When they arrived, they found Rouge was waiting for them.

"My lady," they both said as they bowed their heads.

"You're late," Rouge said sternly.

"Apologies my lady, we were preoccupied with the silver eyed ones and their companions," Jet said apathetically.

Rouge took a deep breath before continuing to speak, "I have a new mission for you two," she said.

"What is it my lady?" Nilah asked.

"I don't know yet, it's Roman's, he requested our help," Rouge replied.

"You would have us help that evil man," Jet questioned blankly.

"I don't like it either, but we need to keep up appearances for the time being, we're almost done here," Rouge said and then began to walk into the warehouse, "follow me," she continued.

As the three of them walked into the warehouse, Roman and Merlot were standing at a table with a holographic screen being projected from it. Roman was wearing a white suit jacket with matching slacks and tie, under his jacket he had on a red-orange dress shirt, and on his head, he wore a black bowler hat with a red band around it, and a small feather in the side. His suit completely covered his prosthetics, except for his hands. On the screen were four faces, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. They seemed to be examining the women's pictures.

"Hmm, little red isn't so little anymore," Roman stated, "ooh, and kitty cat cut her hair, it really has been a while, hasn't it," he continued with intrigue.

Dr. Merlot then looked up from the screen to see Rouge, Jet, and Nilah walking up to the table they were standing behind.

"Ah, Rouge, there you are, you and your friends are just in time," Dr. Merlot said.

"So doctor, what is it Mr. Torchwick wanted us for?" Rouge asked.

"I need you and your friends to track down these four," Roman said as he pointed to Team RWBYs portraits on the screen.

Rouge began to chuckle lightly, gaining a confused look from both Roman and Dr. Merlot.

"Track down the four most famous huntresses on the continent," Rouge said with a chuckle, "a blind, deaf, and dumb child could do that," she continued.

"Rouge this is no laughing matter," Dr. Merlot stated sternly.

"I'm sorry doctor, but I understand Roman being out of the loop, but you, where have you been… under a rock for the last twenty years?" Rouge said.

"I've been busy, these last twenty plus years, I haven't had time to keep up with the lives of four insignificant girls, my travels and experiments are far more important to myself than world events," Merlot stated bluntly.

"Hey, can you two focus," Roman cut in loudly.

"You don't speak to our lady like that," Jet threatened apathetically.

"No one's talking to you twerp, Rouge control your posse," Roman said.

Jet was about to draw his weapon, but Rouge stopped him with a motion of her arm.

"Anyway, you already know their whereabouts?" Roman inquired.

"Yes Mr. Torchwick, Ruby and Weiss live together on Patch, while Blake and Yang live together within the main City of Vale… the upper-class district to be exact," Rouge said.

"When you say live together, you mean like roommates right?" He asked.

"No Mr. Torchwick, Ruby and Weiss are officially married, while Blake and Yang are in a long-term relationship, both couples have children as well," Rouge said.

Roman was dumbstruck for a moment, after that he keeled over and burst out laughing. He hung onto the table to avoid dropping to his knees.

"This is gonna be easier than I thought," Roman said through the last of his laughs as he composed himself.

"Rouge… how did you come about this information," Dr. Merlot asked.

"It's mostly common knowledge, had you paid attention to world events, you'd know this too doctor," Rouge replied slightly condescendingly.

"Ok, so do we know their routines… what they normally do?" Roman inquired.

"Over the past couple of years, my associates and I have gathered some info about the famous Team RWBY's routines and habits," Rouge said.

"Well, what are they?" Roman asked.

"The sisters, Ruby and Yang go on around one or two missions a month, depending on how far away they are," Rouge said, "as a matter of fact, Ruby is currently on a mission in Mistral, I don't know when she'll return though and Yang is leaving on a mission for Beacon's headmaster in about a week," she continued.

"What about the kitty-cat and the ice queen?" Roman inquired.

"Blake is a professor at Beacon, while Weiss is still an active huntress, I don't know how often she goes on missions, but I know it's not as often as Ruby or Yang," Rouge stated.

"If Mrs. Rose is on another continent, how are we supposed to get to her?" Dr. Merlot asked.

Roman began to pace and think to himself for a few minutes. He was starting to formulate a plan in his mind for how he was going to get his revenge on Ruby and her former team. He stopped in his tracks after thinking as if he experienced an 'aha' moment. A slight smile came to his face before he turned to address his associates.

"I know how we're going to get back at little red," Roman stated, "but we'll have to move quick," he continued.

"And how would that be?" Dr. Merlot asked.

"We bring her to us, play on little red's sense of kinship, we capture her family and friends, that'll draw her out," Roman stated.

"Ok, so who do we capture?" Rouge asked.

"Weiss, Blake, and Yang are the priority, if we can capture the kids, that'll be a plus, however, we need to find out their daily motions, catch them when their guard is down, and the details on Yang's mission too," Roman said.

"My associates and I can handle that," Rouge stated confidently.

"Ok, but when the time comes, who goes after who?" Dr. Merlot asked.

"When the time comes, Rouge, you and your associates get the Ice Queen, Ne…" Roman paused and then began to look around, "where's Neo?" He asked.

Rouge and Dr. Merlot shrugged as they had no idea where Roman's friend could be at.

"Whatever, I'll fill her in later," Roman said, "Rouge, you and your friends go after Weiss, I'll take the kitty cat, although I'm gonna need some help for that," he continued.

"I have some old Merlot Industries security robots that may be of use to you," Dr. Merlot stated.

"Ok, other than Neo's part, I'd say we have a full plan," Roman said.

One of the doors of the warehouse opened and the group gathered around the table turned to see who entered the room.

"Speak of the grimm," Rouge said with a chuckle.

Neo entered the warehouse and walked up to the five of them in her typical silent manner, she walked up to Roman in specific and handed him a long rectangular box.

"For me?" Roman inquired.

Neo nodded and got a smile on her face as Roman began to open the box. Once it was opened he pulled out a crook cane that resembled the one he lost twenty-four years ago.

Roman inspected the cane for a moment, like his old one, the end popped open to reveal a gun barrel. After a few moments, Neo pointed to a button near the handle of the cane. Roman pushed the button and the handle disengaged from the rest of the cane, he then pulled the handle and revealed a rapier blade attached to it.

"Thanks Neo, I love it," Roman said with a smile as he re-sheathed the blade.

Neo smiled back at Roman after hearing his words.

"Back to business?" Dr. Merlot inquired.

"Yes," Roman replied.

Roman informed Neo of the plan they had come up with and her role in it, when the time came for them to strike, she was to go after Yang. After ironing out some more details on the plan the six of them began preparing to set out on their tasks.

Rouge, Jet, and Nilah met away from the other three after their meeting. Jet and Nilah were apprehensive about helping such people as Roman, Merlot, and Neo with their revenge plot against Team RWBY.

"I don't like this," Jet said apathetically.

"Neither do I," Nilah added, her normal manic smile was gone from her face as she wore a more disgruntled look.

"Look, I don't like it either, but we need to aid them for the time being," Rouge said.

"Why?" Jet asked plainly, "Field Marshal Berg and the troops are ready to move at your command," he continued.

"Because it's not time yet," Rouge snapped, "if we strike to soon the plan will fail and this world will never be cleansed of evil," she continued.

"Well, why not just purge those three?" Nilah asked, her manic smile returning to her face.

"Because they still have some use to me," Rouge stated and then walked over to Nilah, "but rest assured, when their usefulness has ended, you will get to have your fun," she continued as she lightly caressed Nilah's face.

Nilah's manic smile grew larger upon hearing Rouge's words, and she became giddy with anticipation for her next purging.

Rouge looked away from Nilah and towards Jet, "I need you to observe Mrs. Schnee-Rose on Patch," she then turned back to Nilah, "you keep track of Mrs. Belladonna," she continued.

"And what will you do my lady?" Jet asked blankly.

"There's only one person left that we can observe, I'm going to keep track of Mrs. Xiao Long," Rouge said as she began to walk away from Jet and Nilah, "but first… I have some business to attend to," she continued.

After their discussion, Rouge, Jet, and Nilah set out on the tasks they had been given by their… pawns.


	13. The Caravan

Chapter Thirteen: The Caravan

It's been a week since the chase, neither Team BLAC, nor Team AYST have seen the boy in black or the girl in white since it occurred and that fact has them a bit on edge. However, they must calm their nerves and ready themselves for the coming trials and tribulations.

The first-year students had some time to themselves before they were to gather in the amphitheater for their mission assignments. Teams BLAC and AYST along with several other students were hanging out in their dormitory's rec room, the boys were playing billiards, Alyssa was hustling some students out of their Lien in games of Pinball, while Alani, Bianca, and Ebony were playing a friendly game of blackjack. All the students were fully equipped with their combat gear, weapons and all.

As the students were relaxing before their mission assignments, some of the TV's in the room were playing local news stations. The TV overhead of Bianca, Alani, and Ebony then switched from a local traffic report, to another story, VNN news anchor Lisa Lavender was reporting on it.

"This just in, we have received more information on the housefire that claimed the lives of seven people last weekend, the VPD have classified this fire as arson and have linked it to several murders that have taken place over the past year. Also, two of the bodies have been identified as infamous gangsters, Flynn Redman and his lieutenant, Rojan Castile, the other five victims have yet to be identified. An investigation into the incident has been launched, if you have any information relating to the crime you are urged to report it directly to the Vale Police Department immediately," she reported.

Alani cringed lightly after hearing the news report, "burned alive… that's one way I don't wanna go," she said.

"Good riddance," Ebony stated.

"Really, no respect for the dead?" Bianca asked.

"They're criminals, live like a thug, die like a thug, I applaud whoever is cleaning up the streets of this city… vigilante justice is justice nonetheless" Ebony said.

"It's still murder Eb," Roy cut in.

"Trust me, when you come from Mistral, you see nothin' but shades of gray," Ebony retorted.

"You're kinda contradicting yourself there," Bianca said.

"Hey, I'm sure they weren't all bad, but they were obviously much more bad than good, so my point still stands" Ebony said.

"She is not wrong," Yin stated.

"Well, why don't you help clean up the streets then?" Lucas said after pocketing a ball in his game of billiards.

"That's not a bad idea," Ebony replied before then turning to her team leader, "hey Al, you mind if we take a mission within the city?" She asked.

"I'm ok with that, but I we should see what the boys think," Alani said.

Yin simply nodded, accepting whatever mission that would eventually be chosen by his teammates.

"I'm ok with whatever we decide," Roy said as he leaned over the pool table and took aim upon one of the billiard balls.

"Speaking of mission assignments, Bianca, what were you and your team thinking of doing?" Alani asked.

"We've been talking, we all decided to try and get something outside the city if we can," Bianca replied.

The intercom in the room then activated with, gaining many of the student's attention, and causing Cyrus to mess up his shot in billiards and scratch the Cue ball into a pocket.

"Damn it!" Cyrus exclaimed lightly.

Blake's voice then came through the intercom, "all first-year students please report to the amphitheater for your mission assignments, I repeat, all first-year students please report to the amphitheater for your mission assignments."

"Looks like it's time to go," Ebony said as she quickly repackaged the playing cards she and her friends had been using, she left the box of cards on the table and stood as she grabbed Artemis from the seat next to hers and slung it over her shoulder.

"Yup," Bianca agreed as she put on her belt that held her sabers, she then turned to where her cousin was playing pinball, "Alyssa we gotta go now," she said.

Alyssa quickly finished the game she had been playing and took the lien of the students she hustled before joining her team and friends on their way out of the rec room.

As they made their way to the amphitheater, the emotions of the first-year students were split, a lot of them were excited, but just as many, if not more were nervous. For many of them this would be their first true test since the initiation.

As the students entered the amphitheater they were greeted by Professor Pine, whom was standing on the central stage ready to address the students. He was flanked on his left and right by Professors Belladonna and Ren. The students filed into the amphitheater and stood in loose ranks as they waited for their headmaster to speak.

"Today marks a major step in your lives as huntsmen and huntresses, for today you will embark upon your inaugural missions," Professor Pine said, he then paused to look around at the students for a moment before continuing, "you will all be tasked with shadowing a professional hunter for the rest of the week, some of you may leave the borders of the kingdom, others may work within the walls, know this, some of these missions will be perilous, so I urge you that in times of danger, look to your teammates and your hunter and don't charge into situations blindly, your professors, fellow students, and I all want you to return safe."

After Professor Pine concluded his brief speech, several terminals emerged from the walls on either side of the room. As they did, Professor Belladonna stepped forward to speak.

"The terminals that have just appeared contain the available missions for you to choose from, choose wisely, once you sign up for a mission you cannot change it," Blake said.

After their professors' brief speeches, the first-year students headed over to the terminals to sign up for their desired missions. Many of the students began to discuss what missions to take with their teams as they walked up to the terminals.

"What do you guys wanna do, Patrol? Search and Destroy? Something else?" Bianca asked her team.

"What about Escort?" Lucas inquired.

Team BLAC headed over to the terminal with the escort mission listings, there were several missions listed, a few had already been taken by other students.

"What about this one, a caravan from Vacuo needs an escort through quadrant five to the eastern coast, start time is… ASAP," Cyrus said as he pointed to the mission.

"That seems like it would be cool, let's take it," Alyssa said.

Bianca registered her team for the mission, they then gathered their things and headed to the Bullhead docks to meet their huntsman for the mission. On their way out of the amphitheater, Alyssa went to talk to Ren for a moment.

"Hey, guys hold up for a second," Alyssa said to her team as she jogged over to Ren, who was now walking around among the first-year students and assisting those who had any questions.

Ren noticed Alyssa jogging over to him and he addressed her as she stopped jogging, "hello Ms. Xiao Long, did you have a question about your mission?"

"No, actually I wanted to know how Pyrrha was doing, I haven't gotten many chances talk to her since the party," Alyssa replied.

"She's doing well," Ren stated.

"Ok, and what about her semblance training, I heard you and Nora were helping her with that?" Alyssa inquired.

"Her semblance training is going very well actually, she's proving to be a natural," Ren stated happily.

"Ok, that's cool," Alyssa said as her teammates called out to her.

"Hey Alyssa, we gotta go!" Lucas called out.

"Hey, tell Pyrrha I'll call her when I get back from my mission," Alyssa said as she began to head back to her team.

"Will do," Ren replied with a smile.

Team AYST caught up with Team BLAC and they headed to the airship docks to meet the hunters they were to shadow on their missions. Along the way, they discussed the missions they had chosen.

"Quadrant five huh? Isn't that where Mountain Glenn is located?" Roy asked.

"Yeah, and isn't it crawling with Grimm?" Ebony inquired.

"We're only passing through it, we'll only be there for a few hours, maybe a day, it shouldn't be that bad," Alyssa replied.

"What'd you guys end up signing up for?" Bianca asked Team AYST.

"We're shadowing a huntsman who's working with the police, we get to help clean up the streets of Vale," Alani said with enthusiasm.

"We get badges too," Ebony added.

"Cool," Cyrus said.

"So, when does your guys' mission start?" Lucas asked.

"Officially, tomorrow, were just heading down to the city to meet with our huntsman, the mission said that they wanted to meet today, but the mission doesn't start yet," Alani said.

After reaching the airship docks, Teams BLAC and AYST went their separate ways. Team BLAC walked up to their transport and noticed the pilot walking around the ship doing a last-minute inspection of it. After a few moments of this, he hopped up into the Bullhead and headed into the cockpit.

"My bird is ready to go," the pilot said.

"Great, now we just have to wait for the students to get here," a familiar voice replied.

Team BLAC stopped for a moment as they recognized the voice of the unseen person. After a second the person who the pilot was talking to stepped into sight, it was Alyssa's mom, Yang, she was wearing her 'huntress' outfit.

Yang stepped out of the Bullhead and leaned against it, patiently awaiting the arrival of the students she was to take with her. After a moment, she noticed her daughter's team walking up to the transport she was leaning against.

"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise," Yang said as Team BLAC walked up to the transport.

"Hey mom," Alyssa said.

"Hey honey," Yang replied.

"Mrs. Xiao Long I'm ready when you are," the pilot said.

"Right," Yang replied and then turned her attention back to Team BLAC, "alright, no time to Yang around, let's get moving," she continued.

Alyssa groaned at the pun her mother just made, "this is gonna be one of those trips, isn't it?" She asked rhetorically.

"Come on, a few puns here and there won't be a complete Cat-astrophe," Cyrus said with a smirk.

"Hey Cyrus, remember when you told me to remind you to not piss me off," Alyssa asked calmly yet seriously.

"Yeah," Cyrus said nervously.

"This is that reminder," Alyssa threatened calmly.

Team BLAC and Yang boarded the transport and headed south from Beacon, towards the southern edge of the mountain range that shields the kingdom from the hordes Grimm on the eastern side of the continent. They had to escort a caravan through these hostile lands to the eastern coast where they would board a ship to head to Mistral. Along the way the five of them made small talk and discussed some details on the mission, but not many, as Yang wanted to explain it in detail once they reached the caravan they were to escort.

After a two-hour flight, they reached the southern edge of the mountain range, and the Bullhead landed just outside a camp. The camp they landed outside had ground transports arranged in a circle around it for defensive purposes, on the inside were the members of the caravan.

As Team BLAC hopped out of the Bullhead, Yang stuck her head in the cockpit to speak with the pilot briefly.

"You have the coordinates for the pick-up, right?" Yang asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Xiao Long," the pilot replied.

"Ok, I'll contact you when we need extraction," she said.

"Roger that, and Godspeed Mrs. Xiao Long," the pilot replied.

The Bullhead then took off after Yang exited the aircraft. Yang and Team BLAC walked up to the camp and were greeted by the caravan's leader.

The leader of the caravan was a man of tall stature, being a half foot taller than Cyrus, but he possessed a build similar to that of the other Grey brother. His hair was very short and curly, he possessed a thick stubble beard. Both the hair on his head and face appeared to be black, but as the sun shined on them, they were revealed to be a very dark blue. His complexion was slightly darker than their friend Alani's, and his eyes were a very vibrant orange. He wore an orange and gray waskat vest over the top of a white long sleeve shirt, he also wore white sirwal pants and dark blue slip on shoes. Finally, around his waist was a wide dark blue cloth belt, and attached to it was a broad bladed scimitar resting in its leather sheath.

"Are you the huntress?" The caravan leader asked.

"Yes, Yang Xiao Long at your service," Yang replied while holding out her hand.

"Altan Demir, nice to make your acquaintance," he replied while shaking Yang's hand.

"Also, this is Team BLAC, students from Beacon Academy, they will be joining us for the duration of the mission, my daughter Alyssa, my niece Bianca, and their partners, Cyrus and Lucas," Yang said, introducing the students to Altan.

"Students? Mrs. Xiao Long, are you sure they can handle this?" Altan inquired.

"Trust me, they can," Yang said confidently.

"Okay, well if you'll come with me, I would like to discuss the route we will be taking to the coast," Altan said and then headed back inside the circle of transports.

Yang and Team BLAC followed him inside, when they entered they saw a few dozen people in the camp, possibly more. They were mostly adults, however there were a couple of children. The group of travelers were as diverse as the land they came from, both humans and faunus together, and most wearing different styles of attire, noting the different backgrounds of the people that called Vacuo home.

The six of them entered Altan's tent which was large enough for all to fit and stand in comfortably, in it he had a table set up with a map of the region east of the mountains.

Altan was pointing out the route he had planned to take to the coast to Yang and Team BLAC, "once we reach the other side of the mountains, we should be able to b-line it to the coast if we cut through this forest south of Mountain Glenn, with that route we should make it to the coast in three to four days," he said.

"No," Yang said as she thought to herself for a moment, "that forest is far too dangerous, too many Grimm for myself and the students to handle, I can't guarantee we'll get your people through it safely, if we head north after bypassing the mountains and cut through Mountain Glenn, that will be a far safer route," she continued while pointing out her route on the map.

"But that will add two whole days to our journey," Altan pointed out.

"Yes, that is true, but you and your caravan's safety is our top priority, if this were a smaller group, maybe a few people, I would entertain the idea of going through the forest, however, with as many people as you have, then no, I won't risk it," Yang said.

"Very well," Altan agreed.

"Tell your people to be ready, we're leaving in an hour," Yang said.

Altan nodded in agreement and left the tent to inform his people of the plan and tell them to start packing up their things.

"So, what do we do?" Bianca asked her aunt.

"You four help them pack up, I'm going to keep watch at the perimeter," Yang said.

Team BLAC agreed and set out on their task, while Yang kept an eye out for any threats. With all the people and Team BLAC working together, the cleanup of the campsite took just under an hour. With their campsite cleared out and the ground transports loaded, the caravan set out with their escort.

Even though they needed an escort from kingdom to kingdom, the caravan was not entirely defenseless. Along with the ground transports, they possessed three pickup trucks, each armed with a single water-cooled heavy machine gun mounted in the bed, an aged weapon originating from the end of the Great War. Along with these, several of the travelers were armed with various weapons, ranging from swords, spears, and bows, to firearms, like repeater and breech loading rifles. These weapons were antiquated however, good for dealing with bandits on their own, but not Grimm attacks.

The pickups were spread out in the caravan, at the front, in the middle, and at the rear. Yang and Altan road in the lead truck, Bianca and Cyrus road in the center pickup, while Alyssa and Lucas road in the rear pickup.

The first day of travel was rather uneventful, the caravan had seen no Grimm along the way and many of the travelers were looking forward to the journey being uneventful, Yang however kept her guard up, the experienced huntress knew that there was always calm before a storm.

As the caravan made camp for the night, Team BLAC and Yang were helping them set up, while also keeping an eye out at the perimeter of the camp. After setting up, Yang, and Team BLAC gathered to decide who would go on first watch for the night.

"Okay, who volunteers for first watch?" Yang asked.

"I'll take first watch," Altan said as he walked up to the students and the huntress.

"Mr. Demir, we can handle this, go get some rest," Yang said.

"No, you all get some rest for now, you deserve it for helping me and my people," Altan replied.

As Altan took first watch, Yang and Team BLAC decided upon the order of the watches and then headed off to get some rest for the next day's journey.

After an hour and a half had passed, Bianca awoke to take her shift and headed to the perimeter of the camp. She arrived at the perimeter to see Altan sitting in the bed of one of the pickups, one of his hands was resting on the machinegun as he looked out into the darkness.

"Mr. Demir, I'm here to relieve you," Bianca said, gaining Altan's attention.

Bianca walked up to him as he pulled out a pocket watch to check the time, when he popped it open, on the inside of the cover was a picture of two women, one who looked to be around his age and another one who looked to be a child.

"It's that time already huh?" Altan inquired.

"Yes… May I asked, who are those people in the picture?" Bianca asked.

"Those, are my wife Ela and my daughter Yasmin, they are back in Vacuo right now," Altan said.

"They're very beautiful," Bianca said.

"They're the two most beautiful girls in the world," Altan replied fondly.

"Why don't they come with you?" Bianca inquired.

"My wife and I used to travel together on these journeys, but after our daughter was born, neither of us wanted to risk her safety, so my wife has elected to stay in Vacuo while I head out with the caravan," Altan replied.

"Don't you ever get lonely?" Bianca asked.

"Yes, I do, but their safety is far more important than that," Altan stated as he hopped off the back of the truck and began to walk away.

"Goodnight Mr. Demir," Bianca said.

"Goodnight Bianca and thank you for helping us," he said.

Bianca silently nodded and smiled at Altan as he walked towards the main camp.

After their conversation, Altan headed off to his tent to get some rest, while Bianca took up her watch for the time. Morning came quickly as Team BLAC rotated through their night watches. Yang had the last watch. Like the previous day, the night had been uneventful, much to the pleasure of the members of the caravan. They quickly packed up their campsite and got back on the road.

The caravan traveled for half of the day without incident, but as they were nearing Mountain Glenn, they came up to an abandoned wagon blocking the road. The caravan stopped as Yang and Team BLAC began to scan the tree line off to their right and the rocks at the base of the mountains to their left.

"Alyssa, Cyrus come to the front," Yang said over the radio in the pickup truck.

As Alyssa and Cyrus made their way to the front of the caravan, while Bianca and Lucas drew their weapons and readied themselves for a fight.

Yang turned to Altan after talking over the radio, "tell your people to be ready for a fight, but keep them calm," she said.

Altan nodded and jumped out of the lead truck and began heading to the transports to inform his people of the situation. Altan's people loaded their weapons, the gunners in the pickups chambered their heavy machineguns, and those without guns, drew their swords, and grabbed their spears and bows.

As Yang, Alyssa, and Cyrus began to push the abandoned wagon out of the road the attack came, a group of bandits charged out of the tree line and rushed the caravan.

The members of the caravan opened fire with their guns and bows, while those with melee weapons rushed out and formed a defensive line between the transports and the bandits.

The heavy machineguns opened fire, they were old but they still packed a punch, the gunners mowed down bandits one after another, but there were a lot of them.

Lucas shot dust arrows at the bandits from his position in the back of the rear pickup, while Bianca rushed in to join the melee.

With her incredible speed Bianca cut through the bandit's ranks and felled them one after another. Many of the caravan members looked upon her in awe as she took down bandit after bandit with ease.

Cyrus, Alyssa, and Yang had been cut off from the rest of the caravan by the bandits, but they were holding their own.

Yang fired a fury of exploding dust rounds from Ember Celica at a group of bandits as they charged her.

Three bandits rushed Alyssa, she uppercut the first before then spinning and backhanding the second, the third bandit swept Alyssa's legs from under her and made her fall, but she quickly wrapped her legs around the bandit's and made him fall.

As the bandit tried to pull himself from the ground, Alyssa pushed off the ground and delivered a drop kick to the bandit's head, knocking him out cold.

Cyrus parried the blow of a bandit as she swung her sword at him, and he delivered a quick counter, knocking her out.

Another bandit then rushed Cyrus, this one swung a heavy war hammer down upon him. Cyrus blocked the strike, but the immense power behind it caused him to drop to his knees.

Cyrus then changed his grip on Caliburn, grasping the blade with one of his hands, from here he struck the bandit in the face with the pommel of his broadsword, he then thrust the pommel into the bandit's belly before striking him with the blade and incapacitating him.

Lucas had joined in the melee by this point, he was cutting down bandit after bandit with Masamune, not a single enemy landed a hit on him.

Several bandits rushed Lucas, he quickly shot a glyph under his own feet and with its help, he leapt into the air, once there he combined his katana and tanto to form his bow, he then let loose a volley of wind dust arrows into the ground between the bandits, sending them flying.

As the battle progressed, the morale of the bandits began to drop, as they started to retreat, the bandit leader emerged from the tree line and rallied some of his men for another attack.

The bandit leader and his men charged Yang's position as that was where his men were fleeing from the most.

Altan, saw the bandit leader going to attack Yang and rushed off to help the huntress and the students she was fighting alongside.

Altan cut his way through some of the bandit leader's men, before attacking the leader himself. He swung his scimitar at the bandit leader, but his strike was blocked.

The bandit leader blocked Altan's strike with his massive Zweihänder sword and easily pushed Altan away.

The bandit leader took a huge swing at Altan. He quickly dodged this blow as the huge sword cleaved its way into ground.

Altan rushed the bandit leader once more and managed to strike him several times, the bandit leader then quickly backhanded Altan, knocking him to the ground.

Altan kept fighting the man however, and he dodged, parried, and blocked many of the bandit leaders strikes while he was lying on the ground.

Yang saw Altan was in trouble and she quickly dispatched the bandits she was dealing with and rushed to his aid.

Yang fired several shots from Ember Celica as she rushed in to help Altan, these shots knocked the bandit leader away from him.

She then engaged the bandit leader in melee, parrying and dodging most of his blows, she hit the bandit leader with two jabs followed by a quick uppercut, causing him to be knocked back once again.

"Not so tough now hu…" Yang said but then paused as she saw a strand of her golden hair fall from her head.

Yang's eyes turned from Lilac to Red and her hair lit up like flames as rage came over her face.

The bandit leader took a step back in fear as Yang charged him, he swung his massive sword at her, but she dodged the blow and punched him square in the jaw, sending the bandit leader flying into a tree and knocking him out.

Upon seeing their leader defeated, the bandits broke and ran from the caravan and back into the tree line.

Yang helped Altan off the ground after the fight, "gather the wounded, we have to go, now." Yang commanded urgently.

Yang, Cyrus, and Alyssa then finished pushing the wagon out of the road as Altan and his people set about helping the wounded into the transports, luckily no one on their side died in the fighting.

After clearing the road and loading up the wounded, the caravan booked it away from the battlefield, just as a pack of hungry Grimm arrived. The beasts were too busy feeding on the bodies of the fallen bandits to pursue the caravan.

That night, the caravan reached the outskirts of Mountain Glenn and they set up camp. After setting up camp they set about treating the wounded, there weren't very many serious injuries, but there were more than a few people wounded in the fight. That night was very tense, and the sounds of Grimm could be heard just outside the camp, but none were spotted, nor did any attack.

The next morning, Yang called a quick meeting with the members of the caravan to go over a few things when passing through Mountain Glenn.

"Listen up everyone, today we'll be passing through Mountain Glenn," Yang announced, "This ruin is crawling with Grimm, so I need everyone here to stay alert, stay calm, and stay together, so we attract as little attention as possible, also, as Mountain Glenn is a ruin we will need to navigate it, but don't worry, I've been through these ruins multiple times, I know the way," she continued.

As the caravan set out, Yang seemed much tenser and alert than she had been on the road leading to Mountain Glenn. This abandoned expansion of Vale hid numerous horrors within its ruinous buildings and streets, Yang knew there could possibly be more than just the Grimm inhabiting this ghost town.

The caravan slowly made its way through the abandoned city, but soon it hit an unforeseen obstacle within the ghost town.

Lucas and Alyssa who were riding in the rear pickup truck felt the caravan come to a stop.

"Why are we stopping?" Lucas asked the driver of the pickup.

"No idea," the driver replied.

The radio in the truck then activated and Yang's voice came through, "Team BLAC come to the front of the caravan immediately."

"Your mom seems a bit tense," Lucas said as he and his partner hopped out of the back of the pickup.

"I can understand why, she's been through this place multiple times, she knows how dangerous it is," Alyssa replied.

Team BLAC arrived at the front of the caravan to see Yang and Altan inspecting a large pile of rubble blocking the road, it was far too large to move.

"This wasn't here last time I was in this town," Yang remarked.

"What's the matter Aunt Yang?" Bianca asked.

"Well, as you can see, this rubble is blocking our way, there is too much to move, so I need you and your team to find us another route," Yang said.

"We'll get right on it," Bianca replied.

"Ok, and please be careful," Yang said with concern in her voice.

Yang and Altan watched as Team BLAC headed away from the caravan to find an alternate route through the city.

"You going to be okay Mrs. Xiao Long?" Altan asked after he noticed how tense she was.

"I'll be fine, it's just a mother's concern, that's all," Yang replied.

Team BLAC scoured the ruins of Mountain Glenn and set about mapping a route through the abandoned city. Mountain Glenn was like a maze, twisting and turning, most roads ending in dead ends, it would take a while for them to find a way through.

"How much longer do you think this is gonna take?" Cyrus asked.

"No clue, but we have to get this done," Bianca said as she mapped out the route on her scroll and sent it back to her aunt's so the caravan could follow.

Team BLAC walked down a road towards a three-way intersection, two of the ways were blocked by rubble, but one of the roads was clear. The open road headed east, the direction they needed to be going to get to the coast.

"Come on, this way," Bianca said as she turned the corner, followed by her team.

As the four of them walked down the street, they heard something move quickly through the buildings to their right, they all stopped and went on guard. Bianca put her scroll away and went to check out the source of the noise.

Bianca slowly walked up to the front of the building and peeked her head inside, as she did this, she heard something fall inside the building, but she didn't see any movement.

"Bianca look out!" Cyrus shouted.

Bianca then felt something grab her and pull her out of the doorway as rubble fell to the ground where she had been standing.

After she saw the rubble fall, Bianca noticed Cyrus was holding her with his arms around her waist and she began to blush slightly.

"Umm, Cyrus…" she said timidly.

After Bianca gained his attention, Cyrus noticed how he was holding her, he too blushed slightly before quickly letting go of her.

"Oh, Sorry," he said quickly while trying to clear the blush from his face.

The two of them were a bit flustered by the situation, they tried to clear the blush from their faces and regain their composure, but the incident had them in incredibly flustered states.

"Hey! Focus up you two," Lucas called out, snapping Cyrus and Bianca out of their flustered states.

Bianca took a deep breath, "right, back on track," she said.

Alyssa giggled lightly as Cyrus and Bianca walked back over to her and Lucas.

"What's so funny?" Cyrus asked.

"You two," Alyssa said jokingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cyrus asked seriously.

Before Alyssa could answer, she and her teammates heard a distinct howl from the rooftops above them, when they looked up, they saw an Alpha Beowolf calling its pack.

Before they knew it, a dozen Beowolves emerged from the buildings around them, they looked hungry and ready to kill.

"Crap," Lucas said as he drew both halves of Masamune and combined them.

"Let's do this," Bianca said confidently.

Cyrus drew Caliburn from its sheath and immediately switched it to its shotgun mode, he and his brother opened fire on the beasts as they leapt from the rooftops.

The Grey Brothers managed to take out a few of the beasts before they reached the ground, those that landed were quickly engaged by Bianca and Alyssa.

Alyssa fired off a round from Shadow Celica as she hit one of the beasts with an uppercut, obliterating its head and killing it instantly.

Another one of the beasts charged Alyssa, when it got close, she planted one of her feet in the ground and threw a reverse roundhouse kick accelerated by a shot fired from Hidden Flame into the beast's face, sending its face into the road.

A pair of the beasts took aim at Bianca and rushed her, when they pounced upon her, she quickly struck them with a series of expertly weaved slashes from her sabers, killing them.

Bianca and Alyssa were making short work of the monsters that attacked them, cutting them down and pulverizing them one after another.

The Alpha got passed them while they were occupied, and attacked the Grey Brothers, it rushed at them, galloping on all fours.

The monster pounced on them with intent, as it got close, Cyrus struck it with the hilt of Caliburn, sending it flying into the air, Lucas then leapt into the air with the help of one of his glyphs and bisected the beast with his katana.

Team BLAC quickly dispatched the small pack of Beowolves and started to continue with their objective.

"Well, that was easy," Cyrus remarked.

After Cyrus said that, several Boarbatusks charged out of one of the buildings on the road they were walking.

As the beasts emerged from the buildings, the other members of Team BLAC glared hostilely at Cyrus for a moment.

"Hey bro, do us all a favor and shut up," Lucas said condescendingly.

The beasts spun like buzz saws as they rushed the four students, they closed the distance to their targets rapidly and gave Team BLAC little time to react.

Bianca slashed at a pair of the beasts with her sabers as they rushed passed her, but the strikes did almost no damage.

As the beasts prepared to charge once more, Bianca stood in her fencing stance, ready for their second attack.

The Boarbatusks rushed her once more, as they passed her, she delivered a series of precise thrusts that pierced through the gaps in their armor, killing them instantly.

Alyssa stood her ground as one of the monsters rushed her, she fired a round from Shadow Celica at the monster, tripping it up, when it got close she grabbed it by the tusks and used its momentum to pick it up and slam it on its back, Lucas then ran up and stabbed the beast in the belly, killing it.

Another beast rushed in, catching Lucas off guard and striking him in the stomach, sending him tumbling to the ground.

"Lucas!" Cyrus yelled and then rushed the monster that hit his brother.

Cyrus struck the beast with the cross guard of Caliburn, knocking it off balance, he then gripped the blade with one hand and thrust his sword into a gap in the monster's armor.

After dispatching the beast, Cyrus ran to his brother to see if he was ok, Lucas was on the ground wheezing, trying to catch his breath.

"Are you ok?!" Cyrus asked frantically.

"I… I'm fine… Just got the wi… wind knocked out of me," Lucas said as he attempted to catch his breath.

"I told you, you should invest in some armor," Cyrus said as he knocked on his own breast plate lightly.

"Shut up," Lucas shot back as he caught his breath and slowly picked himself up off the ground with the help of his brother.

"Come on guys, let's go," Bianca said.

After they dispatched their foes, Team BLAC continued down the road they were on, and continued to send mapping info back to Yang and the caravan. The road Team BLAC was on was desolate, surrounded by ruins on either side, but it was a clear path. After their encounter with the Beowolves and Boarbatusks they didn't encounter any Grimm, a fact that should've had them relived, but it just put them on edge.

The road Team BLAC was walking along made a slight right turn, around the bend the road led to the city outskirts and the countryside, they had found the caravan's way out of the city.

Bianca promptly sent the info back to Yang and the caravan before then calling her, "we found a route out of the city."

"Good, make your way back, to the caravan, we'll meet you at some point," Yang said.

"Okay, see you in a bit," Bianca said and then hung up the call.

"So, what are we doing? We waitin' here or what?" Alyssa asked.

"We're heading back the way we came, we'll meet up with the caravan along the way," Bianca replied.

As the four of them began to walk back in the direction they came, they heard a strange hissing-like noise, it wasn't like that of a King Taijitu. After the hissing came the rapid pitter-patter of multiple fast-moving legs. Team BLAC drew their weapons and readied themselves for another fight, and rightly so.

A Deathstalker crashed through on of the buildings along the road, sending rubble flying into the buildings across the street from it.

Team BLAC jumped out of the way to avoid the flying debris and the enraged monster.

"Well, here we go again," Alyssa remarked.

"Lucas, hit yourself with a speed glyph, Cyrus, Alyssa, cover us," Bianca commanded.

Cyrus and Alyssa let loose a hail of dust rounds at the Deathstalker, causing it to rear back in pain, while Lucas did as Bianca commanded.

Lucas and Bianca then rushed the behemoth with blinding speed and struck it several times around its face and taking out a few of its eyes.

The beast reared back and then struck Lucas and Bianca with its massive claws, forcing them to fall back, this strike combined with the one from the Boarbatusk's shattered Lucas' aura.

Lucas dropped to one knee as he gripped his chest, "I can't take another hit like that," he said.

"Alyssa tag in!" Bianca commanded.

Lucas leapt back towards his brother, while Alyssa took his spot on the frontline, "let's do this B," she said.

Lucas switched Masamune to its bow form and joined his brother in firing at the huge monster, meanwhile Bianca and Alyssa charged the beast once more.

As the two of them got close, the Deathstalker thrust its stinger forward and plunged it into the ground, just barely missing the girls.

The beast pulled its stinger back and thrust it forward once more, this time directly at Alyssa, the strike nearly hit her.

Alyssa grabbed onto the stinger as the monster pulled it from the ground, she began strike the area where it connected to the rest of the beast's tail with Shadow Celica to try and weaken it.

As Alyssa was pummeling the beasts tail, Bianca tried to jump onto its back, but she was knocked away by its massive claws.

The beast whipped its tail wildly as it tried to get Alysa off it, she struggled to hang on and was eventually launched into the air by one of the whips of its tail. Its stinger was now weakened and dangling from the rest of its tail.

"Cyrus, I need you to throw me at it," Bianca said as she regrouped with the Grey Brothers.

"What!?" Cyrus asked in confusion.

"No time! Just throw me!" Bianca shouted.

Cyrus quickly grabbed Bianca by her blouse and corset and threw her at the monster, while in the air she activated her semblance and with lightning speed, she cut the beats stinger off, dropping it onto its head.

Alyssa was still in the air at this point, upon seeing the monster's stinger drop onto its head, she fired off several shots from Hidden Flame and accelerated herself downward towards the beast.

Alyssa delivered a thunderous punch, amplified by a shot fired from Shadow Celica, to the detached stinger, forcing it through the deathstalker's armor and slaying the monster.

"Woo!" Cyrus exclaimed after Alyssa slew the beast.

"Great work team!" Bianca yelled.

"Now that that's over with, lets meet back up with the caravan," Lucas said.

Team BLAC headed back towards the caravan once they finished dealing with the Deathstalker. After meeting back up with the caravan, they continued along the route they had mapped out and by the end of the day, they were through Mountain Glenn.

From then on the journey was quiet, no bandit ambushes and very little Grimm activity over the final three days of the journey to the coast. When the caravan and their escort eventually reached their destination, a ship was waiting to take them to Anima, this was where they parted ways with Team BLAC and Yang.

"Thank you all for your help," Altan said while bowing respectfully, "I don't think we could've made it here without your aid," he continued.

"It was no problem Mr. Demir," Yang said with a smile, "I wish you the best of luck on the rest of your journey," she continued.

"Thank you," Altan replied before then joining his people in boarding the ship.

As the ship sailed away, Team BLAC set about making camp for the night, while Yang contacted their pilot for pick up.

"We're ready for extraction," Yang said to the pilot over her scroll.

Team BLAC sat around a fire they had built while Yang continued to speak with the pilot, after she had done so, she joined the four students around the campfire.

"So, when are we gettin' picked up?" Alyssa asked.

"The pilot will be here in the morning, we're gonna meet him in the clearing we passed through about a half mile back," Yang replied.

"Alright, well I'm gonna get some sleep, I'm dead tired," Cyrus said.

"Ok, I'll take first watch, you four get some rest," Yang said.

Team BLAC laid down in their sleeping bags around the fire and drifted off to sleep as Yang kept watch, even though some people had been hurt in the fight with the bandits a few days ago, no one was killed and every member of the caravan made it to the coast, their first mission had been a resounding success.


	14. Vengeance

Chapter Fourteen: Vengeance

It was early morning on the seventh and final day of Team BLACs first mission, Lucas had the final watch and he was sitting on one of the large rocks by the campsite sharpening his tanto. He heard rustling in the bushes along the tree line at the edge of his team's camp, he sheathed his tanto and quickly jumped up from sitting and ran to alert Yang and his teammates.

"Hey, guys get up!" He commanded urgently, with his hand on his katana, ready to draw it.

"What's going on Luc?" Alyssa asked as she pulled herself from the ground and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"I don't know, I heard rustling in the bushes," Lucas said.

"Everyone, get up and get ready to leave," Yang commanded as she stood up, "I'll go check it out," she continued as she activated her Ember Celica and cautiously walked into the tree line.

Team BLAC began packing up their gear as Yang disappeared within the trees, soon after however, they heard her fire off her shot gauntlets several times.

"What the hell was that!?" Cyrus asked loudly.

Yang then leapt back through the trees and back into sight, before firing three more rounds into the tree line.

Team BLAC rushed to Yang's side with their weapons drawn, ready for a fight.

"What is it, more Grimm?" Bianca asked her aunt.

"No… its worse," Yang replied.

A small woman dressed in a Neapolitan color scheme walked out of the tree line, she was holding a similarly colored parasol over her shoulder to shield herself from the sun.

"Hey Bianca, isn't that the girl from the shop, that was all up in your face?" Cyrus asked.

"Hey, yea… Aunt Yang, you know her?" Bianca inquired.

"Get outta here, all of you," Yang commanded calmly.

"But we can help," Alyssa said.

"No, go," Yang said more sternly.

"But mo…" Alyssa said, but was cut off.

"Alyssa! Go! Get your team outta here now!" Yang shouted.

Neo rushed Yang at this point, she thrust her parasol directly at Yang's face, a strike she barely managed to dodge.

Yang grabbed and attempted to throw Neo, but she regained her balance while in the air and landed back on her feet.

Bianca grabbed Alyssa's arm and the two of them, along with their partners, ran to the extraction zone.

As Team BLAC fled the scene, Yang and Neo stared each other down stoically, two warriors in a duel for the ages.

"Long time no see Neo," Yang said with a smirk.

Neo cockily smiled back at the blonde huntress, she then extended the blade from the end of her parasol.

Team BLAC ran through the forest towards the clearing where they were to meet the pilot who was extracting them, all the while they could her Emer Celica being discharged behind them. When they reached the extraction point the shots ceased. The four of them waited, but Yang never showed up.

"I'm going back!" Alyssa shouted at her team as their transport came into view.

"Alyssa wait!" Lucas shouted, but to no avail.

Lucas then took off running after his partner as she left the clearing.

"Where are you guys going!" Bianca shouted.

"Don't worry, I'll bring her back, wait here for the transport" Lucas replied as he continued to run.

Alyssa rushed back to their former campsite as fast as she could, she couldn't leave her mother behind, she wouldn't leave without her.

Alyssa reached the campsite and desperately searched for her mother, but she couldn't find her, at least not all of her. Alyssa noticed her mother's robotic arm lying on the ground as if it had been ripped off, it was twitching lightly and sparking.

"No!" Alyssa cried out.

Lucas arrived at the campsite to see his partner holding her mother's arm and crying. Just then, a Bullhead transport emerged from the trees, and flew away, Neo was standing in the ship's open door, holding Yang's unconscious body by the back of her shirt.

"Alyssa come on, we have to go," Lucas said.

"We have to save my mother first!" Alyssa shouted back.

"We have to get back to Vale first," Lucas retorted, "Professor Pine can help us, now let's go!" He continued urgently.

Alyssa begrudgingly agreed, she and Lucas rushed back to the extraction zone where the pilot and their teammates were waiting for them.

"Where's Aunt Yang?" Bianca asked with concern.

"That woman took her, we should get to Professor Pine ASAP and let him know what happened," Lucas said.

"Pilot, get us back to Beacon yesterday!" Cyrus said urgently.

"You got it," the pilot replied, as he started to take off, "you kids are gonna wanna buckle up," he continued.

The pilot put his Bullhead's afterburners into overdrive as he flew like a rocket threw the skies towards Vale and Beacon Academy. Unbeknownst to Bianca and Alyssa, but Yang wasn't their only family member to be kidnaped.

Back in Vale, Li had elected to stay the night at his friend Cerin's house, as the two were practicing for an upcoming exam at Coastal Academy. They were out back sparring, while Blake sat in the front room with a cup of tea and one of her favorite books, Violet's Garden.

Blake heard a knock at the door and she got up to answer it, when she opened the door, a look of sheer terror and disbelief came over her face.

"Hey kitty-cat, did ya miss me," the man at the door said.

"Roman…" Blake said in shock before slamming the door and bolting towards her bedroom to grab Gambol Shroud.

Roman kicked in the front door and shot Blake with a round from his cane, sending her flying into and partially through a wall.

Cerin and Li heard the loud crash and rushed inside to see what happened, they then saw Blake lying against the wall in a lot of pain as Roman lowered his cane and walked up to her.

"Mom!" Cerin cried out and then rushed Roman.

"Cerin, don't!" Blake pleaded with a pained voice as she fell out of consciousness.

As Cerin threw a punch at Roman, he caught the faunus boy's arm with the hook of his cane and slammed him to the ground, knocking him out.

Li then rushed in, Roman smacked him away with a powerful backhand strike from his cane, knocking him out as well.

"You've grown soft kitty-cat, that was easier than I thought," Roman remarked with a large smirk.

Two large humanoid robots then burst through the entrance way to the house, breaking off pieces of wall from around it.

"Grab the kitty-cat and the brats, we gotta get outta here before the cops show up," Roman commanded.

The robots grabbed the three unconscious occupants of the building and placed them in the back of a large moving van like vehicle before then rushing away from the scene.

Around the time all this was happening, Ruby was returning from her mission in Mistral. She was riding in the back of a Bullhead as it passed over the eastern coast of Sanus, a few miles south of where her sister had been kidnapped.

Ruby's scroll began to ring, she noticed it was her wife calling so she promptly answered it, hoping to hear her Weiss' beautiful voice for the first time in a few days.

"Hey honey, I just got back over Sanus, what's up?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby! Get to Beacon! Find Oscar!" Weiss said frantically as the sounds of combat could be heard over the call.

"Weiss, what's wrong!? Ruby asked with frantic concern.

"No time! Just get to Beacon and find Oscar!" Weiss shouted as the sound of her glyphs being fired off could be heard through the call.

Ruby then heard Weiss scream over the call, a manically psychotic laugh followed her wife's yell shortly before the call dropped.

"Weiss! Weiss!" Ruby shouted desperately into her scroll.

"Everything alright back there Mrs. Rose?" the pilot asked.

Ruby quickly ran to the cockpit, "get me to Beacon now!" She commanded.

"Yes ma'am," the pilot replied, as he then pushed the Bullhead to its top possible speed.

Team BLAC was speeding back to Vale and Beacon as fast as their transport could go. Alyssa was incredibly distraught over the events that had just transpired. She sat across from her team in the Bullhead as it sped towards Beacon, she held herself and was shaking lightly in her seat.

Lucas stood from his seat across from Alyssa and walked over to where she was sitting, when her reached his shaken partner he sat next to her and gently gripped her by the shoulders before turning her towards himself. He then peered directly into her milk white eyes before speaking.

"Listen to me, we're going to get her back, I promise you if it's the last thing I do, I will save your mother," Lucas said.

Alyssa sensed the sincerity on Lucas' face and in his words, after he spoke, tears ran down her cheeks as she buried her face in his chest.

Lucas was a bit surprised by his partner's action as he had never seen her this vulnerable before, not even when she opened up about her past to him all those months ago. However, he soon reciprocated this action by grasping Alyssa in a comforting embrace.

"Brace yourselves kiddos, we're making our landing approach now," the pilot said.

As they made their landing approach, they noticed Bianca's mother Ruby hopping out of another Bullhead and rushing off towards Beacon Tower with the help of her semblance. Ruby had on her typical outfit she wore when on a hunt, a long-sleeved white blouse with sleeves that flared out towards the end, a black corset with red lace, a long black and red layered dress with a slit that ran up her right leg, a silver belt with a rose on it, a matching cross necklace around her neck, and her trademarked red hooded cloak.

"What's your mom doing here?" Cyrus asked.

"I don't know, but it might be related to what happened with Aunt Yang," Bianca replied.

Team BLACs Bullhead landed and they quickly got out and began to rush towards Beacon Tower to meet with Professor Pine.

"Guys, wait here, I can make it their faster," Bianca said.

Her team agreed, although Alyssa wanted to go with her, she knew her cousin could get help sooner as she could reach their destination much faster without the rest of the team slowing her down.

Bianca rushed off towards Beacon Tower with the help of her semblance, along the way she rushed by Team AYST, who were also returning from their mission.

"Hey, Bianca why the hurry?" Ebony called out.

"Can't talk, emergency!" Bianca shouted as she ran passed them.

"Emergency?" Ebony inquired as the speedy student ran by.

"Wait here, I'll go see what's up," Alani said and then took off running after Bianca.

Even though she had extensive physical training as a warrior and was very fit, Alani couldn't hope to come close to matching Bianca's blinding speed. However, her high endurance from the training would allow her to run at a sprinters pace while barely breaking a sweat.

Bianca reached Beacon Tower shortly after her mother did, she entered the building to see her mother enter the elevator and the doors close behind her. She rushed up to the elevator and called for it to come back down, but she would have to wait for it. While Bianca waited, Alani arrived at the tower and ran up to her friend.

"Bianca, what's going on? What emergency?" She asked.

"Someone captured my aunt, I need Professor Pine's help," Bianca replied.

"Well, let's go then," Alani said.

The elevator then opened up and the two of them stepped inside and headed up to the headmaster's office on the top floor of the tower. When they reached his office, they entered it and saw Ruby meeting with not just Oscar, but a few others, Professors Ren, Haze, Coventina, and Arenas were all in attendance.

"Ms. Rose what are you doing here?" Oscar asked.

"I need your help, my Aunt Yang has been captured," Bianca said.

"Yang's in trouble too?" Ruby asked in disbelief.

"Mom… what do you mean by 'too'," Bianca asked.

"Something's happened to your mother Sweetie, I don't know what," Ruby said.

Bianca stepped back and covered her mouth as a look of disbelief came over her face and tears dropped from her eyes.

"Well, what happened?" Ember asked.

"I don't really know, Weiss… she called me and all I could hear was fighting in the background while she begged me to meet with Oscar, then as it ended all I heard was this psychotic laugh that made my skin crawl," Ruby said.

Bianca's eyes widened as she heard her mother's words, 'psychotic laugh', those words made images of the girl in white run through her head. Soon a new thought came over her, how was the girl in white related to the woman that took her aunt?

"Mom, I think I may know who took mom," Bianca said.

"Who?" Ruby asked.

"There's been these people stalking my team and I since the beginning of the year, a boy in black and a girl in white, I don't know their names, but the girl… she had psychotic laugh," Bianca said timidly, "I'm sorry for not telling you, I'll understand if your angry," she continued softly, fully expecting her mother to be furious with her for not sharing this information.

Ruby walked up to Bianca who was still shedding light tears, and grasped her in a hug, this caused Bianca much surprise.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about this?" Ruby inquired.

"I told Professor Pine, but I asked him not to tell you, mom, or auntie Blake and Yang, I didn't want you to worry," Bianca said.

Ruby turned to Oscar as she continued to hug her daughter, she had an inquiring look on her face.

"Is that true Oscar?" She asked.

"Yes Ruby, it is," he replied, "I am truly sorry, for I didn't think it would lead to this," he continued.

Ruby's scroll then rang, when she pulled it out she found it was her sister-in-law Blake calling her via a video chat. Oscar motioned for Ruby to hand him her scroll. When she did, he placed it on his desk and answered the call, projecting the video screen as a hologram for all to see.

In view was Ruby's family and Li restrained to the seats they were in. All were semi-conscious, tied to the chairs they sat in, and gagged. They also each had a strange metal band around one of their biceps, the band had no defining features other than a small green flashing light.

"Li!" Ren shouted frantically, when he saw his son tied up tied up with the others.

"Oh, I was wondering whose brat that was," Roman said as he, Neo and Merlot stepped into view.

Ruby looked on in horror as three ghosts from her past returned to her life, she was in complete disbelief as she saw them, three nemeses she hadn't seen in decades and one of them she believed to have been dead all this time.

"Roman!? What!? How!?" Ruby asked frantically.

"Why hello Red, I missed you too," Roman said sarcastically, "oh and I see we have company," he continued, referring to the others in Professor Pine's office.

"You're dead, I watched you get eaten alive," Ruby said.

"Not as dead as you might think," Roman said as he twirled his cane briefly, "your precious family will be though, if you don't do as I say," he continued.

"Please, if it's me you want, then let them go," Ruby begged.

"There ya go Red, we're on the same track here, that's exactly what I was going to do, but only after you give yourself up to me," Roman said.

Weiss had awoken from her semi-conscious state to hear this last exchange between Ruby and Roman, she quickly shook her gag free and shouted for her wife.

"Don't do it Ruby!" She pleaded.

Roman turned and struck Weiss across the face with his cane, leaving in large bruise on her cheek, just under her right eye.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted.

"Mom!" Bianca called out.

"Shut up Ice Queen, no one told you to talk… Neo, re-gag her, make sure it's extra tight this time," Roman said.

Roman's longtime partner-in-crime promptly did as he ordered, re-gagging Weiss and making sure it was much tighter so she couldn't shake it free again.

"Roman I swear if you don't let them go I'll…" Ruby threatened but was cut off.

"You'll what Red? Rush in here and try to save them like the wannabe hero you pretend to be," Roman replied condescendingly.

"I'll do what I must," Ruby threatened.

Roman chuckled lightly at her threat, "that's funny Red, but I'll tell you how this is really gonna go down, you're going to come down to the Vale docks alone and unarmed, once you give yourself up I'll release your little friends, however if you try to pull anything, if you try to save them, I'll have them all killed," Roman paused for a moment before continuing, "and also, you have till midnight tonight to give yourself up, or I'll send your loved ones back to you one by one, in pieces," he threatened.

"Why are you doing this?" Ruby asked as she grit her teeth in anger.

"Why?" Roman inquired, "you wanna know why I'm doing this Red… This is why," Roman said as he removed his suit jacket and vest and then popped open his dress shirt, revealing his half robotic chest and abdomen. "I lost twenty-four years of my life because of you, if it wasn't for Neo and the good doctor here, I'd still be dead," he said angrily, "I had this city wrapped around my finger before you and your friends came along, and because of you I lost it all," he continued. "Now, Red," Roman said as he buttoned up his shirt, "you have till midnight, which gives you about six hours, I'll see you then," he continued and then hung up the call.

Ruby broke down once the call ended, the normally stoic huntress dropped to her knees and began to bawl her eyes out.

When her old friend Ren saw this, he ran over to comfort her, "Ruby," he said calmingly as he looked his old friend in her eyes, "we've lost so many people over the years," Ren paused for a moment as he remembered all those that the pair had lost over the years, especially some of the friends they made in their time as students; Penny, Sun, Pyrrha, and Jaune, "if I can prevent it, we will not lose anyone else ever again," he continued.

Ruby took her friends words to heart and they seemed to help her, but she was still saddened and distraught by what was happening to her family, her life had been going perfectly for so long and it just threw her something she didn't expect at all.

"So Oz, do we have a plan?" Ember asked.

Before Oscar could speak, Ruby barely composed herself and cut in.

"I'll tell you what the plan is, I'm going in there and getting all of them out, right now!" Ruby said intensely.

"¡Oye! ¿Está loca? Do you want to get them killed!?" Adrián asked.

"Adrián is right," Calypso agreed, "Ruby, we need to take this slow, we have time to come up with a plan, we should do that before anything else," she continued.

"Fine," Ruby begrudgingly agreed.

"Oscar, if you would," Calypso said, giving the conversation back to him.

Oscar pulled up a holographic three-dimensional map of the Vale docks on his desk and he began to look over it while he formulated a plan in his head, as he did this, the other adults in the room gathered around his desk, turning their backs on Bianca and Alani.

"Let's see… going in head first at full tilt isn't an option," Oscar said and then pondered to himself for a few more moments, "okay, I've got it, we'll divide into two teams, Ren and Ember, you two will keep an eye on Ruby while she meets with Roman, meanwhile Calypso and Adrián will scout the docks and extract Roman's captives once they've found them," he continued as he made motions with his fingers on the map and pointed out different areas.

"What about you Oz?" Ember inquired.

"Once the captives are safely away, I'll arrive with the VPD and we'll cordon off the area so no one escapes," Oscar said.

"Um, excuse me," Bianca said, gaining the attention of the adults, "we'd like to help," she continued, referring to herself, Alani, and their respective teams.

"I'm sorry Ms. Rose, but I will not risk the lives of my students in a situation like this," Oscar replied.

"But it's my family too!" Bianca yelled.

"Bianca's right, you should let her fight, let us fight," Alani said.

"Oscar… do I need to remind you we faced far worse threats than Roman Torchwick when we were their age," Ren said.

"Very well, but I don't feel it's my decision to make," Oscar paused and then looked to Ruby, "she's your daughter, will you let her and her friends risk their lives to help us?" He asked.

Ruby thought to herself for a moment, she looked back to her daughter for a moment, smiling lightly as she made eye contact with her. Ruby then looked away and nodded her head in a pondering way, before then turning back to Oscar.

"They can fight," Ruby said.

"Very well," Oscar said, "Ms. Rose, Ms. Kamehameha, please come here, we'll need to inform you of your tasks for the mission," he continued.

After Oscar informed Bianca and Alani of their team's roles within the plan, he dismissed them so they could get ready and inform their teams. There was around five hours before Roman's deadline would hit.

After exiting Beacon Tower, Bianca and Alani walked back to their dorms, the air was cool and many of the first-year students had returned from their missions by now and were walking around campus going about their business, unaware of what had happened to three members of the legendary Team RWBY.

"Hey Al," Bianca said softly.

"What's up Bianca?" Alani asked.

"I'm sorry I dragged you and your team into this, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," Bianca said.

"Bianca," Alani said as she firmly grasped her friend by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes, "ua mau hoa," she continued.

"Ua ma… what?" Bianca asked in confusion.

"Ua mau hoa… we are friends, our teams are friends, me and mine will always stand behind you and yours, no matter what," Alani said.

"Thank you, Al," Bianca said softly.

"No problem," Alani replied with a smile, "besides, what kind of a warrior would I be if I walked away from a fight," she continued rhetorically.

Bianca and Alani arrived back at their dorms, both their teams were gathered together in Team BLACs room, awaiting their leaders' arrivals. Alyssa was still distraught, and Lucas sat next to her as he tried to comfort her. The other four members of their respective teams were gathered around them, all had concerned looks about their faces.

"What's the sitrep?" Roy asked.

"It's worse than we thought," Bianca said, gaining the immediate attention of everyone, including her distraught cousin, "my mom, auntie Blake, cousin Cerin, and Professor Ren's son Li have been captured too," she continued.

"Them too!?" Alyssa asked with frantic disbelief.

This new information caused Alyssa to grow even more distraught and she began to bawl and rock back and forth in her seat. Lucas gripped her a bit tighter, but not much as to keep the embrace comforting.

"If I may ask, who has captured them?" Yin inquired.

"People from my parent's past, evil people out for revenge," Bianca replied.

"Okay, what's the plan then, how do we get them back?" Cyrus asked.

Bianca and Alani knelt to the ground and motioned for everyone to gather round. Once they did so, Bianca placed her scroll on the ground and projected a holographic map of the Vale docks from it.

"Before we start," Bianca said and then turned to her cousin, "Alyssa, I need you to gather yourself, in order for us to do this, you have to be all here," she continued.

"Right," Alyssa replied with a light sniffle as she wiped her tears away and attempted to compose herself.

"Al, I'll let you start," Bianca said after her cousin composed herself.

"Right, Yin, Roy, Eb, this is what our job is, we are to post up in a lookout position on this freighter here, we have to keep an eye out for any 'suspicious' activity and try to aid the extraction team in locating the prisoners," Alani said as she pointed out the large ship, "if anything goes down, that's when we'll join the fight, Roy Yin and I will get in close while Eb, you rain hell down upon our foes with Artemis, everything clear?" She continued.

Alani's teammates nodded in understanding of their role within the rescue mission.

"Okay, now it's my turn," Bianca said and took over the conversation, "Lucas, Cyrus, Alyssa, we, along with Professors Coventina and Arenas will make up the extraction team, while my mom meets with Roman, and whoever he had with him, it'll be our job to locate and rescue them," she continued.

"Is Aunt Ruby gonna have any backup?" Alyssa asked with concern.

"Yea, Ren and Professor Haze are gonna keep watch over her while she meets with Roman, although, on my way out I did hear Ren say he was gonna get us some 'extra muscle' so they could have a few more people ready to back up my mom if anything goes down," Bianca replied.

"Ok," Alyssa said, her concern being dampened slightly.

"Once we've rescued them, we will make our way out of the Vale docks, Professor Pine should have a perimeter set up around the docks with the VPD by then, after that is when we raid the docks and capture the people who kidnapped my family," Bianca said.

"Well, that's the plan, everything clear?" Alani asked.

The remaining members of Teams BLAC and AYST all nodded in full understanding of the plan.

"Get some rest, but be ready, we're heading out in a few hours," Bianca said.

Bianca seemed oddly stoic and level headed given the situation some of her family members were in, she didn't seem at all distraught, unlike her cousin who was having a hard time with the situation to say the least.

The two teams split up for the time being. Instead of staying with her team, Bianca left her dorm and headed to the roof, presumably to get some fresh air and relax before the coming fight. Showing concern for his partner, Cyrus followed her soon after she left, while Lucas and Alyssa remained in the dorm.

When Cyrus reached the roof, he saw Bianca leaning over the edge, silently looking out over the campus. She slowly looked up at the broken moon in the sky as a light breeze blew at her ponytail and cloak, making her resemble the heroes of old.

The shattered and gleaming silver disk shone in brilliant contrast to the deep blue canvas that was the night sky behind it. Something about that cracked and distant silver orb made Bianca feel refreshed and rejuvenated, not just on a physical level, but on a spiritual one.

"The moon is beautiful tonight isn't it," Cyrus said as he walked up to his partner.

Cyrus' sudden words startled Bianca, whom quickly broke her gaze from the broken disc and looked to her partner.

"Yea, it is," Bianca replied as she turned back towards the moon.

"Anything in particular you'd like about it?" Cyrus asked.

"There isn't much in particular, but whenever I'm outside at night, I get this warm almost nurturing feeling from it," Bianca said.

"Same, it feels like it links with your soul doesn't it," Cyrus stated.

"Yea…" Bianca paused for a moment, "you didn't come here to talk to me about the moon, did you?" she inquired.

"No, I didn't," Cyrus replied.

"Then what'd you wanna talk to me about?" Bianca asked.

"Back in the dorm, you seemed a bit too calm, too stoic, given the situation," Cyrus said.

"Why shouldn't I be, I'm a team leader, I have to be calm in the face of uncertainty," Bianca said.

"That's fine and all, but there is a such thing as being too calm… it's okay to feel uneasy, especially since your family is in danger," Cyrus said.

Bianca and Cyrus then heard a familiar voice shout from the ground below them, "Ahh! Tika tonu! U e!"

The two of them peered over the edge to see their friend Alani pumping herself up for battle with her island's traditional war chant. She stomped her feet and slapped her chest rhythmically as she chanted, after a few moments she jumped in the air and slapped her thighs as she landed and continued to chant.

"She doesn't seem uneasy," Bianca said as she and Cyrus observed Alani.

"Alani is a warrior, she's trained her whole life for situations like this," Cyrus retorted.

"And we haven't?" Bianca inquired rhetorically.

"Even so, I bet she feels uncertain or even fearful when she goes into a fight and personally I know that even after what I've been through in my life, I still feel uncertainty when I go into battle," Cyrus said.

Alani had started to finish her chant around this time, "Ana! Ks! Ana! Ks! Ana! Ks!" She chanted as she pulled her arms across her body a few times and continued to stomp her feet, "Aue! Hiii!" She shouted as she powerfully planted her feet into the ground and pressed her hands into her waist, she followed this by sticking out her tongue and making a threatening face.

After she finished psyching herself up Alani headed back inside the dormitories, along the way she looked up and Cyrus and Bianca looking down upon her from the rooftop, she simply smiled and waved at them and they reciprocated her action with smiles and waves of their own.

"Ok, if I let myself feel uneasy or scared, what's there to stop me from cowering in the face of uncertainty or fear for that matter," Bianca asked.

"Yourself," Cyrus replied.

"You're not making much sense now," Bianca said.

"You should maintain a balance of calmness and uneasiness in the face of uncertainty, too much of one or the other isn't good, too calm and you'll become complacent and you'll be easily surprised, too uneasy and you'll start to cower and won't be able to think straight…" Cyrus paused for a moment and chuckled lightly, "god… I sound like Yin right now, don't I?" He asked with another chuckle.

"Kinda," Bianca replied with a light giggle.

"Anyway," Cyrus continued as he chuckled one last time, "do you believe in any higher power?" He asked.

"Not really," Bianca replied.

"Oh… well if it's no trouble, I'd like to say a prayer for you, it's the same one Lucas and I say from time to time before we go into fights," Cyrus said.

"No, it's fine, go ahead," Bianca said.

Cyrus then held out his hand and Bianca took it, he then placed his other hand on top of hers as the two knelt to the ground and closed their eyes. After they knelt, he began to pray, "Lord we come before you seeking the strength and skill to overcome our enemies. Grant us, we pray, the wisdom to recognize evil, the courage to confront it, and the strength to defeat it, in your name we pray, Amen."

The two of them stood back up after Cyrus said his prayer and he released Bianca's hand, "I hope that will help you," he said.

"It does, all of it does, thank you," Bianca replied.

"Alright then," Cyrus said with a smile, "I'm gonna head back inside now, I'll see you whenever you decide come back inside as well," he continued.

As Bianca watched Cyrus walk away, her face grew rosy.

"Um… Cyrus, there's something I want to tell you," she said.

"What's that?" Cyrus inquired as he turned to face his partner once more.

"It's just… If something happens and one of us doesn't…" Bianca started to say, but was cut off.

"I'm gonna stop you right there," Cyrus said as he held up his hand, "It's not good to think like that before a fight, why don't you tell me whatever it is you want to after we get back," he continued.

Bianca took a breath and cleared the blush from her face and nodded lightly accepting what Cyrus had just said, albeit reluctantly.

"I'll see you inside," Cyrus said and then exited the roof.

Bianca turned back around as her partner left the roof, she leaned back over the edge and let out a sigh before then looking back at the broken moon.

After he concluded his video call with Ruby, informing her of her family's imminent demise, Roman turned to his associates Doctor Merlot and Neo.

"I think that went rather well," Roman said.

"Agreed, Mr. Torchwick," Dr. Merlot replied.

Neo simply smiled and nodded in agreement with her longtime partner.

"Now, all we have to do is await Red's arrival," Roman said.

"About that," Dr. Merlot said, "Mr. Torchwick, do you really think she'll come alone?" He asked.

"If she wants her precious family to live she will," Roman said threateningly.

"Right, well, regardless of if she comes alone or not, I've taken the liberty of hiring some extra muscle in preparation of these events, they should be here soon," Dr. Merlot replied.

While Roman, Merlot, and Neo awaited the arrival of Ruby within the confines of the warehouse, Rouge, Jet, and Nilah met outside, away from their 'associates'. Rouge wasn't wearing her doctor's assistant garb she had frequented for a while now, instead she wore a dark gray formfitting blouse, with a black leather pauldron on her left shoulder and matching leather vambraces on her forearms, she also wore red and black breeches with a translucent red waist cape, and black leather knee high heeled boots.

"I have a date with our dear field marshal tonight, while I'm gone I need you two to remain here and aid Roman and his associates, do whatever they say… within reason of course, once Rommel and I have completed our outing I'll contact you, it's almost time for us to leave this retched city," Rouge said.

"Yes, my lady," Jet and Nilah replied simultaneously as they respectfully bowed.

Jet and Nilah remained where they were standing for a few moments as they watched Rouge head off on her mission. After she was out of sigh, the two of them headed back inside the warehouse where Roman, Neo, and Merlot were.

Merlot was tinkering with his red-hued black serum, attempting to perfect its effects, while Neo was sitting up on a table, watching Roman slowly pace back and forth in front of his captives.

"Let's see… who do I start with?" Roman inquired as he paced in front of his captives, "do I have any volunteers?" He asked sarcastically.

Weiss, Blake, and Yang glared hostilely at Roman, while Cerin and Li appeared to be scared out of their minds. When Roman saw the fear in the children's eyes he walked over to them and drew the sword from his cane.

Roman pressed the tip of his sword on Cerin's neck causing the young faunus boy to pull back from the sharp point, while this happened Blake, Weiss, and Yang tried to pull at their restraints to get free and help the children.

Yang managed to shake her gag free from her mouth while Roman threatened her son.

"Don't you touch him!" Yang shouted with maternal rage.

Normally when Yang got this angry her semblance would activate instantly, but it didn't this time, something was wrong with it.

Roman turned his attention to Yang as he pulled his sword away from Cerin and sheathed it, he continued to glare at Yang as he walked up to her.

Roman and Yang stared each other down for a few moments, Roman then struck Yang across the face with a backhand from one of his robotic hands, leaving a large bruise on her cheek.

He continued to viciously beat Yang, striking her across the face several times, knocking a few of her teeth out in the process, and punching her in the stomach a few times as well.

Yang spit out a bit of blood onto the ground after Roman ceased beating her.

"That all you got," she mocked, with her voice full of pain.

"Oh, I've got much more Blondie," Roman paused for a moment and a smile came over his face, "you know what, when the time comes, I think I'll start with you," he continued.

"Do your worst," Yang replied stoically, her voice still full of pain.

"Neo, re-gag Blondie would you," Roman said as he walked away from Yang.

Neo hopped off the table she was sitting and walked over to Yang, she then proceeded to re-gag the blonde huntress.

"Oh, I almost forgot, there's no point to try and use your semblance to break your restraints Blondie," Roman said as he leaned against the table his partner was once sitting on, "you see that armband you and all your friends are wearing, state of the art aura suppression technology property of the Vale Police Department, they suppress the aura and by extension, the semblance of the wearer, thanks to some associates of the good doctor here we've snagged a few before they went into service," he continued.

Doctor Merlot's scroll rang and he promptly answered it, "hello?"

Merlot spoke with the person on the other side of the call for a few short moments before then quickly hanging it up. He then turned to Jet and Nilah, who had been standing eerily silent in the room observing the actions of their 'associates'.

"You two, there are some people waiting at the entrance to the dock, bring them here," Dr. Merlot ordered.

Jet and Nilah made their way out of the warehouse and down to the entrance of the docks, when they got there, they found ten brutish looking men, they looked to be local gangsters and strongmen. One man in particular caught their eye.

He was much larger than the others, he looked to be a full six inches taller than Junior Xiong and possessed twice the muscle mass of him as well. He wore ragged black jeans, spiked leather boots, and an unbuttoned sleeveless blue jean jacket. Upon his burley chest was a tattoo of a fearsome Ursa.

"Yo Bear, check out the pipsqueaks," one of the men called out when they saw Jet and Nilah.

The large beast of a man turned to see the small twins walking up to he and his associates. He proceeded to meet them half way and walked over to them.

"You with Merlot?" He asked upon reaching the twins.

"Yes, this way please," Jet replied blankly.

The beast of a man ordered his men to come along and the ten of them followed Jet and Nilah back to the warehouse, where they were to meet with Roman, Merlot, and Neo. As the group entered the warehouse, Roman and Merlot went to meet them while Neo kept watch over their prisoners.

"So, which one of you is Merlot?" The beast of a man asked.

"That would be me, and its 'Dr. Merlot'," the aged doctor said as he walked up to the large man.

"Ah, yes I recognize your voice from the call, the names Bear Blackwood, at your service," the large man said.

"Let's skip the introductions please, and get down to business," Roman cut in.

"Right, my apologies Mr. Blackwood, this is my associate, Roman Torchwick, you and your men will be taking orders from him, however I do need three of them for a quick… experiment," Dr. Merlot said.

Bear gave a quick motion of his head and three of his guys followed the doctor into a room away from the others, Doctor Merlot motioned for Neo to come with them as he would need her aid for a few moments. As they headed away, Bear noticed the five individuals tied up in the room.

"So, what's that about?" Bear asked.

"They're the reason the good doctor hired you, we'll be expecting some company soon and I need you and your men to be ready," Roman replied.

The room that the three men followed Doctor Merlot and Neo was the same makeshift operating room the doctor and his assistant rebuilt Roman in, however in the center there were now three tables equipped with heavy duty straps and restraints.

"If you would please lie down on the tables we can get started," Dr. Merlot said.

The three men did as they were asked and the doctor and Neo set about strapping them down to the tables as securely as possible. After they strapped down the three men, Neo left the room for a moment and returned with a cart, on it were several syringes full of a strange red-hued black liquid, however they now had several small glowing green orbs floating inside the serum.

"Yo doc, what're the restraints for?" One of the men asked.

"Just a precaution my boy," Dr. Merlot replied as he picked up one of the syringes full of the liquid, "now remain still, you may feel some slight… discomfort," he continued.

Merlot went about injecting the men with the serum. One by one the veins in their bodies began to turn black, this was followed by their skin turning solid black and white boney plates with distinct green highlights painfully sprouting from their bodies and claws sprouting from their fingers and toes.

"What the hell is this!?" One of the men asked in fear as he watched his body transform.

"Science," Dr. Merlot replied with a smile.

As the men's bodies were warped and transformed into those of beasts, they let out screams of pure pain and terror, soon however, their screams became beastly roars.

"What was that!?" Bear asked as he heard the screaming and beastly roars.

"That, is above your pay grade, so don't worry about it," Roman said.

Dr. Merlot and Neo emerged from the other room as the roars and screaming subsided. The old doctor had a smile on his face, a smile that suggested he just did something, 'memorable' for the field of genetic engineering.

They all remained in the room where the captives were, awaiting the arrival of Ruby. Roman couldn't stop checking the time on his scroll, he checked it more and more as midnight grew closer, seemingly checking it every five minutes or so.

He checked his scroll one last time, it read '11:57 PM', once he saw the time, Roman stood from his seat, drew his sword and walked over to his captives.

"Looks like Red is content with letting you all die," Roman remarked as he walked behind Yang.

Li and Cerin were absolutely terrified at this point and they began frantically trying to free themselves from their restraints. Tears fell from Weiss' eyes, while Blake looked to her son and his friend with sorrow.

"So, Blondie how bout' we give you a haircut," Roman said as he grabbed Yang's golden locks and pulled them tight.

Roman placed his sword to her forehead and Yang simply closed her eyes and accepted her fate, her only regret was that Li and Cerin were going to go through hell soon and no one would be able to help them.

Just as Roman was about to do the deed, Blake's scroll rang. Upon hearing it, Roman sheathed his sword and walked over to answer it, His captives breathed a sigh of relief, but were still full of fear and concern.

"Why hello… Red."


	15. Blood Red Roses

Chapter Fifteen: Blood Red Roses

The symphony of combat filled the air, police sirens in the distance mixed with cracking gunfire and clashing blades. Bianca slowly picked herself off the ground and looked around, her vision was blurred and a heavy ringing shot through her ears. When her vision cleared she saw Alyssa and Lucas struggling against Neo, while her partner, Cyrus, was on the backfoot in his fight against Merlot's abominations.

She heard muffled speech begin to come through the ringing in her ears as it started to clear up. Her body felt weak and frail, her aura was all but shattered and she could barely hold herself up. Bianca tried to reach for her saber Summer, but her opponent, Roman, kicked it away as he walked up to her.

"Still trying to fight I see," Roman said as he drew the sword from his cane, "you truly are your mother's daughter," he continued as he prepared to stab Bianca.

Bianca shut her eyes tight as Roman thrust his sword towards her, she heard the sound of steel piercing flesh, but she felt no pain. She then felt the warm wet feeling of blood rolling down her cheek.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a flurry of red rose petals slowly descend around her, pure horror then came over her face as she realized what happened.

"Hey… sweetie…"

Forty-five minutes earlier…

Ruby stood out in the open at the entrance to the Vale docks, but she was not alone. Nearby, were her friends Ren and Nora along with Ember Haze, keeping a close eye on her. Within the docks crept Team BLAC, Adrián Arenas and Calypso Coventina. Team AYST was providing over watch from a large docked freighter and Oscar was waiting patiently a few blocks away with several dozen Vale Police Officers and a couple Swat teams.

"Is everybody in position?" Oscar asked over the communication earpieces he had given everyone.

"Team RRNE (Rune) is ready to go," Nora replied.

"I don't think rune is a color," Ember pointed out.

"Just go with it," Ren stated.

"Team AYST" is in position," Alani said.

"Teams BLAC and CYAN are primed to strike," Calypso said.

"Alright, Ruby, make the call," Oscar said.

Ruby pulled her scroll from her pocket and called Roman, by way of Blake's scroll. A few tense and worrying moments passed as the scroll continued to ring unanswered, but then he picked up.

"Why hello Red," Roman said with maniacal glee.

"I'm here, alone and unarmed, just as you asked, now let them go," Ruby said seriously.

"That's not how this works, first you turn yourself over to me, then I let my captives go," Roman said.

"Fine," Ruby agreed.

"Good Red, now I'm heading right over to meet ya," Roman said and then hung up the call.

Roman tossed the scroll back onto the table haphazardly and walked over to his associates to discuss some things. His captives meanwhile, had conflicting emotions running through their heads, they were relieved that they were going to leave this nightmare, but they were also saddened that Ruby was going to give herself up and subject herself to possibly worse treatment at the cold metal hands of Roman Torchwick.

"Alright, we're going out to meet Red, Neo I want you with me as always, Bear, you and your men are with me as well, uh… salt, pepper, whatever your names are, stay here with the doc and watch the captives," Roman said.

"Mr. Torchwick, if you don't mind me asking, are you going to keep your side of the bargain?" Jet asked with apathetic intrigue.

Roman looked to Jet, and then towards his captives, a mischievous smile came over his face as he glared at the five bound and gagged hostages.

"Not a chance," he said.

Yang, Blake, and Weiss went wide eyed when they realized Roman's treachery, Cerin and Li tried once again frantically to break free from their restraints, but again they failed. Yang, Blake, and Weiss grew angry and began to shout muffled and inaudible threats at Roman as he left the warehouse.

Ren held Nora's hand as they watched over Ruby while she awaited Roman's arrival, the two were worried for the wellbeing of their son and friends, but mostly that of their son.

"Don't worry LJ, mommy and daddy are coming for you," Nora whispered to herself.

As the two of them readied themselves for the fight, they heard Ember recite an old saying about someone walking into danger, albeit a bit modified.

"As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for I am the baddest motherfucker in the valley," Ember said.

Bianca was waiting with her team and their professors for the order to move in on the warehouse. Since her talk with Cyrus a few hours ago, she had grown curious how her friend Alani felt going into battle, she wondered if being a warrior caused her to feel no fear or worry when heading into to a fight.

Bianca pressed her hand to her earpiece and activated it, so she could speak, "hey Al," she said semi quietly.

"What's up Bianca?" Alani inquired.

"I was wondering, are you ever scared when you go into battle?" Bianca asked.

"All the time my friend, why?" Alani said.

"It's just I figured since you come from a warrior society and all, you might not be afraid of a fight," Bianca said.

"Bianca, only a madman has no fear," Alani said.

"Hey, cut the chatter, this is no time for small talk," Calypso commanded over the communicator.

Bianca and Alani cut off their conversation at the command of their professor. Hearing those last few words from her friend reinforced in her what Cyrus had told her earlier, in order to function in uncertain situations, one must balance out fear and calmness.

"Team AYST, do any of you have a visual on Roman or his captives?" Ren asked.

"Hey Eb, you're up," Alani said.

Upon hearing her team leader, Ebony shut her eyes for a moment as her aura began to glow its violet color. When she opened her eyes, they had changed from blue and green to violet. Through her point of view, the world now had a distinct violet hue to it as she peered through Artemis' scope.

She scanned the docks for a moment before she saw the auras of Roman, Neo and seven others. Ebony's semblance allowed her to see people's aura's through any number of obstacles, regardless if they were unlocked or not. She could also see Grimm with this ability, albeit their signatures look noticeably different than an aura's. She and her friends have named her semblance 'Vision.'

"Okay, I've got nine people heading towards Ruby, two have unlocked auras," Ebony said.

"Can you see where they're keeping the captives?" Ren asked.

Ebony scanned the docks once more as she looked for Roman's prisoners, she stopped on a warehouse once she spotted them.

"Okay, I've got seven people in warehouse, the number is thirteen-a, southside of the docks, aura colors are yellow, light-blue, purple, white, green, red, and two black, that sound like any of em'?" Ebony stated.

"All but one of the black ones, the red, and the white, those are defiantly their aura colors," Ren said, "Calypso, it's time to move in," he continued.

"Right," Calypso replied, she then turned to Adrián and Team BLAC, "let's move," she continued.

"Hold up, I'm seeing Grimm signatures in their as well, there are three of em'," Ebony stated.

"Roger that, we'll be sure to take em' out of we see em'," Calypso said.

As Team BLAC, Adrián and Calypso made their way to the warehouse, Roman and his associates met with Ruby near the dock entrance. Ren, Nora, and Ember watched over the meeting and prepared to jump in to protect Ruby once the time came.

"Roman," Ruby said bluntly upon seeing him.

"Daww, I missed you too Red," Roman replied sarcastically.

"Well, I'm here, and as you can see, I'm alone and unarmed, so… are you gonna let my family go, or what?" Ruby asked.

A nefarious smile came over Roman's face, "grab her," he commanded.

Two of Bear's men rushed up to Ruby and restrained her, so she couldn't try anything. After they grabbed her, Roman walked up to her and got in her face.

"There's been a little change of plans red," Roman paused as he got out of her face and started pacing, "you see your teammates are just as guilty for what happened to me as you are, so they'll be joining us, as for the brats… well, the sins of the parents are the sins of the children," he continued.

"You bastard, we had a deal!" Ruby cried out.

"Don't you know to never make a deal with a crook Red," Roman retorted.

As they met, Team BLAC and their professors made it to the warehouse where Yang, Blake, Weiss, Cerin, and Li were being held. Calypso and Lucas scaled the side of the warehouse, while Adrián and the rest of Team BLAC waited to breach the building.

Once they reached the top, Calypso slowly and quietly opened one of the skylights overlooking the area where the captives were being held and Lucas combined his weapons into their bow form.

"We have one shot at this Mr. Grey," Calypso said.

Lucas nodded confidently and drew back his bow, he formed an arrow made of ice dust and fused it with fire dust, giving the light blue arrow a red hue to it. He loosed his arrow into the room and it struck the ground between Jet, Nilah, and Dr. Merlot. The shot exploded into an icy mist and knocked Jet, Nilah, and Merlot out for the time being.

Upon hearing the explosion, the rest of Team BLAC, along with Adrián breached the building and rushed over to where Roman's prisoners were being kept and set about untying them.

Bianca set about untying her mother, once Weiss was untied by her daughter, she grabbed her and pulled her into a tight and thankful hug.

"Mom! Are you ok?!" Alyssa said after ungagging Yang.

"H-hey honey, n-nice to see you again," Yang said with pain in her voice.

As Alyssa untied Yang, she tried to get up, but she fell to her knee in pain from the beating Roman gave her.

"Mom!" Alyssa cried out on concern.

"It's ok, I've got her," Cyrus said as he helped Yang up and slung her good arm over his shoulder to help her walk.

Alyssa quickly untied Blake and Cerin and the three of them gripped each other in a quick and tight hug.

After they untied Li, they rushed out of the warehouse and were met by Calypso and Lucas. They ran as fast as they could to get to the docks, but they were slowed slightly by Cyrus, who was carrying a badly hurt Yang.

Jet, Nilah, and Merlot came too as their captives were escaping.

"What are you waiting for! Go after them!" Dr. Merlot shouted.

Jet and Nilah took off after their captives and those that freed them.

"Not on my watch," Ebony said as she saw Jet and Nilah chasing her friends.

Ebony charged and fried a round from her rail sniper, sending the round through several containers before it slammed into the ground in front of the twins, knocking them to the ground and allowing Team BLAC, the professors, and their newly freed captives to escape.

Alani, Yin, and Roy then jumped down from the freighter to engage Jet and Nilah in melee, while Ebony continued to fire at them with Artemis.

Roman heard the round of Ebony's rail sniper explode upon hitting the ground and he looked back to see the plume of smoke rising from the ground. An angry look came over his face.

"You've done it now Red," he said as he pulled out his scroll, "doc, kill the captives!" He ordered.

"They escaped, Mr. Torchwick, we've been had," Merlot replied.

"Dammit!" Roman shouted as he threw his scroll in anger, "any last words Red," he continued as he lifted his cane to shoot Ruby.

"Just two," Ruby replied with a smirk, "Flower Power!" She shouted.

Ren and Nora leapt from behind the container they were hiding behind, firing off their weapons as they did so.

Ren dispatched both the men holding Ruby with quick slashes from the blades of Storm Flower and tossed Ruby, her Crescent Rose.

Nora slammed her hammer to the ground, taking out a few more of the thugs, leaving just three of Bear's men standing.

"Ugh! Bear, take care of them!" Roman ordered as he and Neo ran from the scene.

"God, you three are too theatrical," Ember said as she nonchalantly walked between the thugs and her temporary teammates, "I can handle these punks, go after Roman and his little friend," she continued.

Ember rushed Bear and his men, giving Ruby, Ren, and Nora room to get by them.

"Oscar, send in the cavalry!" Ren said over the communicator as he and his teammates ran past the thugs.

Soon after Ren said this, police sirens could be heard descending upon the Vale docks.

"You really think you can take us little lady?" Bear asked threateningly.

Your boys look easy, you may be a challenge," Ember remarked as she pulled her calabash from her belt.

One of the thugs rushed Ember as she started to drink the contents of her calabash, as he neared her, she spun around his punch and made him fall to his face.

Another thug rushed her and caused her to cease drinking and she smacked him across the face with her calabash, knocking him to the ground.

She continued to drink as the three thugs all rushed Ember at the same time, she quickly capped her calabash and tossed it in the air.

She punched the first thug in the stomach, causing him to bend forward, from there she rolled over his back and struck the send thug in the chest with a powerful kick, dropping him onto the ground.

The third thug she grabbed by the throat and pulled him into a strike from her shoulder which was quickly followed by a strike from her elbow, sending him stumbling backwards.

Her calabash fell out of the sky and she quickly grabbed it and started drinking from it once more, leaning further and further back as she did so, until her back was parallel to the ground.

As she stood back up, Bear joined the fight and managed to strike Ember in the face with a hard punch, sending her stumbling backwards.

She composed herself and quickly finished what was left in her calabash. After finishing she hooked it back to her belt and began to drunkenly sway as she tried to stand.

"That's good stuff!" She exclaimed drunkenly.

"What are you waiting for, get her!" Bear commanded as he shoved two of his men in the back.

As the two thugs got close, Ember took several drunken steps backwards to dodge their initial strikes.

Despite being incredibly drunk, Ember dodged and parried the two men's strikes and then countered them with a pair of swift and precise punches to the face, knocking one of them out.

When the other thug charged back in she roundhouse kicked him in the stomach, dropping him to the ground and incapacitating him.

"Monkey drinks mastah's wine," she said as she stood on one leg and formed her hands like she was holding cups.

The last of Bear's thugs charged forward and Ember did the same, the thug threw a haymaker ant Ember, a strike she skillfully dodged, she then countered it by head butting him in the chest and knocking him back.

After this strike Ember fell to the ground, seemingly knocking herself out.

Both the thug and Bear got confused looks on their faces and walked up to her, when they got close, Ember opened her eyes quickly and threw several flare kicks at the two men, knocking Bear's last thug out.

"Eagle carries wine bottle," Ember said drunkenly as she stood from the ground with one of her legs extended, parallel to the ground and holding her arms as if she was carrying a wine bottle by the cap and base.

Bear rushed in and threw a huge haymaker at Ember, she quickly dodged the strike and punched Bear several times in the chest and face, causing him to stumble backwards.

Ember rushed forward and threw an aerial spinning kick at Bear, but he managed to avoid it, she followed this up by throwing a roundhouse kick to his jaw, and following it by a punch to the nose, these last two strikes knocked the large beast of a man out cold.

"Hmpf, well you were nothing but a tease," Ember said drunkenly in disappointment.

As Jet and Nilah were engaging Team AYST, Dr. Merlot ran over to a control console and activated his robots, five red robots armed with double tipped glaives and three white ones armed with blaster cannons.

"Kill the intruders!" Dr. Merlot ordered.

As the robots rushed out of the warehouse, Merlot headed into the warehouse's loading bay, inside was something covered by a large tarp. He pulled the tarp from what it was covering, revealing it to be an old Atlesian Paladin. He quickly jumped inside and crashed out of the loading bay to join the fight.

As Team BLAC, Calypso, and Adrián were making their way to the entrance of the docks, they could hear heavy metallic footsteps chasing them and they sounded as if they were getting closer.

Cyrus looked back to see Merlot's red robots chasing them, "guys we've got company!" He shouted.

Calypso and Adrián stopped abruptly, while the rest of the group kept running.

"Go on, we'll take care of them!" Calypso yelled.

Adrián and Calypso stood back to back as the five robots surrounded them and slowly walked towards them.

"Best three outta five?" Calypso asked.

"You're on amiga," Adrián replied confidently.

The five robots rushed forward with their weapons pointed at the two hunters, and attempted to skewer them.

Adrián drew his huge great sword and spun around, knocking all their weapons away.

Calypso then leapt in the air and threw a barrage of throwing needles at their opponents, knocking them back.

Calypso shot out her daggers as she landed on one of the robot's head and stabbed it, causing the machine to short circuit, she then leapt from the robot as it exploded.

"That's one for me!" Calypso exclaimed.

Two of the robots rushed Adrián and swung their glaives down upon him, he blocked their blows with his sword, as he blocked them, the concrete beneath his feet shattered under the immense pressure.

He pushed the machines from him and then planted a powerful chop into the waist of a robot, scrapping it.

"I got one too!" Adrián shouted.

Another Robot rushed Calypso and swung its glaive at her, she somersaulted over the swing and sliced its arm off with a strike from her daggers.

The robot swung its good arm at Calypso and knocked her back with a powerful strike, she skid down on her hands and knee and composed herself before switching back to her throwing needles.

When the robot rushed her, she leapt in the air and planted the throwing needles into the back of its head and destroyed it.

"That makes two," she said cockily.

Adrián swung his sword at the other robot he had been fighting, the machine managed to parry his strike and disarm him, sending his sword sliding across the ground, out of his reach.

Adrián looked to his sword and then looked back at the robot, a light smile came over his face as he chuckled for a second.

"You shouldn't have done that vato," Adrián said as he crossed his arms in front of his face, "don't you know… some huntsmen are deadly even without their weapon," he continued as he quickly extended his tiger claws from his fingertips, he had an artificial set in his prosthetic arm.

Before the robot knew what hit him, Adrián rushed forward and thrust his metal arm through the robot's chest and ripped out its core, he smashed it in his hand as the robot deactivated and fell backwards.

Calypso rushed the last robot to strike it, but the machine smacked her with a backhand shattering her aura and sending her tumbling to the ground.

The robot walked up to her and prepared to impale her, but Adrián ran up from behind and ripped off its head, causing it to short out and start swinging wildly before then dropping to the ground and exploding.

"And that's three," Adrián said as he retracted his claws and helped up Calypso.

Calypso let out a light laugh and a smile came over her face.

"You win this round," she said.

Team BLAC, along with three of the members of Team RWBY, Cerin, and Li continued to run as the professors held off the robots. As they rushed through the docks, they crossed paths with Ruby, Ren, and Nora, who were chasing after Roman and Neo.

"Mom! Dad!" Li shouted when he saw his parents.

Ren and Nora looked towards the shouting and when they saw their sun, relieved smiles donned their faces.

As this happened Merlot's cannon armed robots appeared and began firing at anything that moved. Ruby, Ren, and Nora ducked behind a concrete wall for cover.

Merlot then joined the fight in his mech and began to fire at the three hunters taking cover behind the concrete wall.

"Ha! Nowhere to go now Mrs. Rose," Dr. Merlot boasted.

They returned fire with their weapons whenever they could, but the robots had them pinned down and they couldn't move from their position.

"Dammit, they're gonna get away!" Ruby exclaimed in frustration.

Blake walked over to Cyrus and took Yang off his shoulders and slung her arm around her shoulders and then turned to her niece.

"Go, make sure Roman and Neo don't escape," Blake said.

"But, what about you?" Bianca asked.

"We'll be fine," Weiss cut in.

"Yes, now go," Blake stated.

The three members of Team RWBY, along with Cerin and Li made their way to the entrance of the docks where officers of the Vale Police Department were waiting along with a couple of paramedic units and Professors Pine and Haze.

As all this was going on, Team AYST was engaged with Jet an Nilah near the warehouse where Roman was keeping his captives.

Ebony fired round after round from Artemis as her teammates engaged the twins. Ebony's barrage was keeping them on the edge as they struggled to dodge the ranged and melee attacks.

"Brother, would you take care of that pesky sniper," Nilah said manically.

"Gladly," Jet replied apathetically.

Black shadowy mist then manifested itself around Jets body and he quickly disappeared within it, while he did this, Nilah rushed her opponents.

As Ebony kept firing at Nilah, a black shadowy mist appeared behind her and Jet stepped out of it.

Ebony heard his footsteps and quickly swung around and fired a round from Artemis at Jet from pointblank range.

Jet barely dodged the shot and then swung his sword at Ebony, knocking her off her vantage point and down to the deck of the ship.

"Hey Roy, get up here I need some help!" Ebony yelled over the communicator.

"Roger that," Roy replied and then took off towards the ship to help his partner.

Alani and Yin simultaneously engaged Nilah, she skillfully and effortlessly parried, blocked, and dodged their strikes with her war fans, her movements were like that of a ballerina's, fluid and graceful.

Yin dropped back and shifted his weapons back into their revolver forms and opened fire on Nilah.

Nilah shoved Alani away from her and combined her war fans to form a shield and she blocked Yin's shots.

While he continued to fire, she rushed him from behind the protection of her shield, once Nilah got in close, she split her war fans and struck Yin several times, knocking him back.

Alani rushed Nilah from behind, but as she swung her weapon down on her, Nilah threw a roundhouse kick at Alani and sent her sliding on the ground towards Yin.

"You two are fun," Nilah said psychotically with a large, equally psychotic smile on her face.

As Alani and Yin engaged Nilah, Ebony was fighting Jet, and losing.

Ebony had Artemis in its battle-axe form and she was struggling to parry Jet's precise slashes and thrusts.

Roy suddenly leapt between the two combatants and knocked away one of Jet's strikes with a parry from his saber.

"Two vs one… meh," Jet said nonchalantly.

Jet fired the blade from his sword at Roy and quickly reloaded it from the blades hidden under his large scarf.

Roy parried the flying blade and it planted itself into a cargo container next to him.

Roy then rushed forward and delivered a pinpoint thrust towards Jet's chest, he quickly parried the blow, but then Ebony descended upon him from above and swung her battle-axe down at his head.

Jet leapt back and Ebony planted her axe into the ship's deck, leaving a sizeable gash in it.

Roy rushed forward and engaged Jet in a dual, their fighting styles were very similar, but Jet's was raw, and undisciplined, despite this he had ferocity in his strikes, he was trying to kill his opponents.

"Ugh! This chick is really starting to piss me off!" Alani shouted as she picked herself off the ground.

Yin looked to his partner and girlfriend, "then get angry," he said with a light chuckle.

Alani nodded and began to crack the joints in her shoulders and neck as she walked towards Nilah, who simply tilted her head in manic intrigue.

"Kia mate toa… fight unto death," Alani said to herself as her aura manifested itself to look like flames surrounding her body.

Alani rushed forward at Nilah as Yin opened fire on her with his revolvers, Chaos and Order.

With her semblance active, Alani's strikes became faster and harder, Alani became drunk with rage as she attacked Nilah. Her semblance is known as 'Warrior's Rage', it grants her increased strength and speed in combat, but at the cost of the protectiveness of her aura.

Alani struck Nilah several times and knocked her back, despite this she quickly composed herself and started to laugh manically.

Alani let out a large battle-cry as she rushed Nilah once more, Nilah simply laughed and counter charged the enraged warrior.

Alani spun Kū, her double tipped chainsaw spear around her body incredibly fast, as she struck Nilah and parried most of her blows.

Yin then leapt over Alani and began firing down at Nilah while he was in the air, Nilah quickly formed her shield with her war fans and blocked Yin's rounds, but this distraction allowed Alani to strike Nilah and knock her to the ground.

As the battle at the docks was going on, several semi-trucks were sitting at the entrance of the Vale Defense Force's southern supply depot, waiting for permission to leave.

Driving the front truck was Rouge, who was now disguised as a VDF solider, and next to her was a man, who looked to be in his late thirties, dressed in VDF officers garb.

The gate guard was inspecting the manifest of the trucks carefully for a few moments, "let's see, uniforms, patches, insignias…" he continued speaking to himself as he read off the contents of the manifest, before then handing it to the man sitting next to Rouge.

"Okay, looks good, so tell me sir, why does the northern depot need all this?" The gate guard stated.

"I'm afraid zat information is classified mein good sir," the man said.

"Very well, move along," the gat guard said.

The gate guard then opened the gates and let the semi-trucks through.

"Good work back there Rommel," Rouge said.

"Zank you mein lady," Rommel replied.

As they drove, Rouge pulled out her scroll to make a call.

As Jet dodged and parried Roy and Ebony's strikes, his scroll rang, he answered it as he continued to fight with his opponents.

"Hello?" He asked apathetically as he jumped away from his opponents.

"Jet, it's Rouge, I can hear you're busy, but you need to get your sister, it's time to leave this wretched city," Rouge said.

"Yes my lady," Jet replied and then hung up his scroll.

Ebony fired a round from Artemis at Jet as he put away his scroll, this time managing to hit him, he keeled over slightly from the shot, but his aura managed to dampen the blow.

"I wish we could continue this, but my sister and I must be going," Jet said blankly.

Black shadowy mist manifested itself around Jets body as Roy and Ebony looked on.

"Oh no you don't," Ebony said and then charged Jet.

Jet disappeared within the mist as Ebony slashed through it with her battle-axe, but he was gone.

A few moments passed and the mist appeared next to Nilah and Jet stepped out of it.

"Come now sister, it is time to leave," he said with an emotionless tone.

"Aww, but I was having fun," Nilah pouted.

"We need to leave, my dearest sister," Jet said apathetically.

"Fine," Nilah reluctantly agreed, before then turning to Alani and Yin, "I guess I'll kill you later," Nilah said in a lightly psychotic manner.

The still enraged Alani rushed forward as the black mist appeared around the twins, when Alani got close, Nilah's aura began to glow and she let loose a screech with such force that it stopped Alani in her tracks and pushed her back a few feet, meanwhile her teammates covered their ears from the sheer loudness of it, it even affected Roy and Ebony, who were still on the cargo ship.

The screech ended when the twins disappeared within the mist.

Alani's teammates ran up to her as she calmed herself and deactivated her semblance.

"That was one hell of a semblance," Ebony said.

"Yea, it was," Alani agreed.

"Come on, let's get to the rendezvous point," Roy said.

"Right," Alani agreed.

Team AYST then headed off towards the entrance of the Vale docks.

Team BLAC eventually caught up with Roman and Neo as they were about to board a bullhead transport and escape from the scene.

Lucas combined both halves of Masamune into its bow form and fired several explosive fire dust arrows into the transport, and blowing it up before the two criminals could board it.

Roman and Neo turned to face Team BLAC after their only means of escape was destroyed.

"Well if it isn't Team RWBY's brats and their boyfriends," Roman remarked.

"Give it up Torchwick, there's no way out!" Cyrus shouted.

"I ain't goin' to jail kid, not when I just got my life back," Roman said, he then looked to his partner in crime, "you take scrappy and blondie Jr. I'll take… little Red, no… I'll call her White, as for her friend, we'll let Merlot's pets tear him apart," he continued.

Roman pulled out his scroll and pressed a button on it, releasing Merlot's abominations from their restraints and activating a beacon for them to follow.

Merlot's abominations soon arrived to back up Roman and Neo. They looked like humanoid Grimm, they possessed all the trademark Grimm features, black skin, claws, sharp teeth, and boney armor plates, however the plates had a green highlight to them but the biggest difference was their eyes. Normal grim eyes are red and it fades into a golden pupil, but these beasts, their eyes were human, bloodshot, but human.

Neo attacked Lucas and Alyssa and separated them from their teammates, while Roman rushed Bianca and Cyrus, splitting them up.

Merlot's abominations then surrounded Cyrus, they were growling, at one another, but it wasn't normal bestial growling of the Grimm, it was rhythmic, like speech. One of the beasts ordered the other two to attack with a combination of growls and gestures.

Cyrus drew his sword and parried the strikes of a Grimm abomination and countered them by slashing at the part of its body not covered in armor plates, but his blade didn't cut through, much to Cyrus' shock, as if these beasts have an aura.

The beast glared at Cyrus with its bloodshot eyes and then punched him in the face, knocking the swordsman back.

"What the hell are these things!?" Cyrus exclaimed before charging back into the fray.

Meanwhile, Alyssa and Lucas were engaged with Neo, the partners struggled to strike her as she parried and dodged all their blows, but landed plenty of her own.

Something was off about Alyssa, she was more aggressive than usual, she kept throwing punches wildly and was rushing into engagements headfirst, without thinking.

Alyssa rushed Neo and threw a heavy punch at her face, Neo quickly parried the blow with her umbrella and then kick Alyssa in the stomach, knocking her to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked.

"Fighting, what does it look like!?" Alyssa shot back before then charging Neo once more.

Lucas ran after her and the two threw simultaneous strikes at Neo, but she dodged them and caused Lucas and Alyssa to hit each other.

"Ugh! Get out of my way!" Alyssa shouted.

"You need to calm down!" Lucas shouted as his partner rushed back into the fight.

While they were fighting, Roman and Bianca were facing off against one another, Roman drew his sword from his cane, as Bianca drew her sabers.

"Well, White, let's dance," Roman said mockingly.

Bianca rushed Roman with her semblance, leaving a trail of white rose petals behind her.

"Ah, I see you have the same semblance as dear old mom," Roman stated as he pulled his sword back to swing it, "too bad your nowhere near as fast as her," he continued as he struck Bianca and sent her flying into the side of a cargo container.

Roman re-sheathed his sword as Bianca picked herself up and rushed Roman once more, he fired a shot from his cane, but Bianca managed to dodge it and get in close, she struck him several times with expertly weaved slashes from her sabers, knocking him back.

"Don't underestimate me, I may not be as fast as my mom, but I'm a damn sight faster than you," Bianca stated confidently.

Bianca then rushed Roman once more with the help of her semblance, Roman quickly fired a shot from his cane and hooked it with the cane's crook and sent out the round as a blade of dust, Bianca quickly redirected herself and dodged the strike.

She got in close and hit Roman with a combo from her sabers, thrust-left slash-right slash-double thrust, these strikes made Roman stumble back.

As Bianca rushed in once more, Roman side stepped her strike and clotheslined her with his cane, knocking her on the ground.

Around this time, Cyrus managed to shatter the aura of one of the abominations, he then cleaved the beast in half from its shoulder to its waist.

The two other beasts looked to their fallen comrade and then to Cyrus, rage and hatred came over their faces as they rushed Cyrus.

Cyrus flipped Caliburn around and gripped it by the blade, when the first beast got close, he slid under its strike and hooked its leg, causing it to fall on its face.

The second beast struck Cyrus and knocked him to the ground and sending Caliburn flying far away from him, he kicked the beast as it pounced on him and he quickly jumped back to his feet.

Cyrus raised his fists as the beasts slowly walked closer to him, when they saw him raise and ball his fists, they seemed to smile evilly and do the same.

Roman fired a shot from his cane at Bianca as she picked herself up off the ground, the round hit near her head and the force from it sent her skidding across the ground.

Ruby, Ren and Nora had finished their fight with Merlot and his cannon armed robots while Team BLAC fought Roman and Neo. The fight with Merlot had left Nora, Ren, and Ruby fairly weakened with their auras now dangerously low, so they grabbed the now unconscious Merlot from his mech and rushed back to the entrance of the beacon docks.

Once there, Ren and Nora grasped Li in a tight loving hug, while Ruby looked around, she saw her family and comrades being treated for whatever injuries they had sustained, but she didn't see her daughter or her team.

"Where's Bianca!?" Ruby asked frantically.

"She and her team went after Roman," Weiss said.

"What!? And you let them!?" Ruby shouted.

"They were going to escape if they didn't," Blake said.

"I have to go," Ruby said, and then ran off in the direction Roman and Neo ran in.

"Ruby, come back, you're too weak," Weiss shouted.

Ruby ran off just as Calypso and Adrián were getting back to the dock entrance. Ruby sped passed them quickly and they were almost knocked to the ground by her.

Ruby ran as fast as she could through the docks, after a while she came to where her daughter's team was fighting, she saw Roman draw his sword and kick away Bianca's saber as she reached for it.

Ruby knew she only had enough aura left for one use of her semblance, without thinking she shot forward, leaving a flurry of red rose petals in her wake.

Roman thrust his sword at Bianca as she held her eyes shut, but Ruby stopped between them as he did so, with her aura now gone she had no protection from the thrust.

Bianca opened her eyes as she felt the warm sensation of blood roll down her cheek and a look of horror came over her as she saw her mother standing between she and Roman with her arms outstretched and Roman's blade sticking out of her belly.

"Hey… sweetie…" Ruby said as she coughed up a bit of blood.

Roman removed his sword from Ruby's abdomen and she collapsed to the ground, Bianca quickly crawled over to her.

"Mom! Mom no!" Bianca cried out.

Roman had a look of disbelief on his face for a moment and then broke out laughing.

"Oh Red, if I knew it would be that easy, I would've just kidnapped White instead of the rest of your family," he said through his laughter.

"Sw-sweetie, please, keep fighting… f-for me…" Ruby said as she fell unconscious.

"Mom… Mom!" Bianca shouted in grief.

At this time, Neo hit both Alyssa and Lucas with powerful strikes, shattering both their auras and knocking them to the ground.

She extended the blade from her umbrella and drug it on the ground as she walked over to Alyssa, when she reached her, Neo made ready to stab Alyssa and kill her.

"Get away from her!" Lucas shouted and then rushed Neo.

Lucas swung his katana at Neo, but she ducked under the swing and stabbed Lucas through the side of his belly.

The sheer piercing pain caused Lucas to drop to his knees while Neo stood over him, she then slashed him in the chest causing him to keel over to the ground.

"No!" Alyssa shouted as she watched Neo strike down her partner.

As Roman continued to stand over Ruby and Bianca, Bianca ceased her crying and grabbed her mother's Crescent Rose from the ground next to her and activated it.

Bianca stood and faced Roman, the borders of her eyes had begun to glow with a magnificent white light.

Roman took a step back from Bianca as a bit of fear came over him, she then rushed him and struck him several times with her mother's weapon, sending him flying into the wall of a building.

"Okay, looks like the party is really starting now," Roman said as he picked himself up and rushed Bianca.

Alyssa stood and faced Neo, she took a deep breath and calmed herself, she then popped the joints in her neck and raised her fists.

Neo presented the tip of her bladed umbrella to the blonde faunus and a confident smile came over her face.

Neo rushed Alyssa and thrust her bladed umbrella at her opponent, Alyssa parried the strike and delivered a powerful counter punch to Neo's face, dropping her aura, and stumbling her.

Alyssa then rushed in, but not wildly, she blocked and parried Neo's strikes and landed some powerful punches and kicks of her own.

Alyssa's next volley of strikes, Neo managed to dodge and parry, giving her the upper hand once again, however when she thrust her blade at Alyssa's face, her opponent took a step back and grabbed the blade, halting its forward momentum.

Alyssa's hand was now bloodied from grabbing Neo's sword, but she didn't care, Neo's confident expression melted off her face as Alyssa snapped the blade from her umbrella and threw a monstrous punch, amplified by a shot from Shadow Celica, into Neo's chin.

Neo's head spun farther than humanly possible and a loud audible crack could be heard coming from her neck, and her now limp body dropped to the ground.

Roman looked over and saw his longtime companion's lifeless body fall to the ground, and a look of grief came over him.

"Neo…" he said lightly.

Roman charged Bianca as pure rage came over him, he swung wildly at Bianca as tears fell from his eyes, Bianca easily parried Roman's wild swings.

Bianca spun Crescent Rose around her body with grace and skill, firing off shots to speed up her attacks on Roman, she skillfully dodged, parried and countered all of Roman's attacks.

Bianca then saw an opening as Roman reared back for a powerful strike, she shifted Crescent Rose into its sniper form as she knelt and shoved the barrel into Roman's metal belly.

She fired off a round of explosive fire dust and blew Roman's torso from his legs.

Roman hit the ground and coughed up some blood, "Neo…" he said as he let out his last breath.

The shining light left the borders of Bianca's eyes and she fell to the ground unconscious.

"Bianca!" Cyrus shouted out of concern as he held the last of Merlot's abominations by the head.

He quickly broke its neck and rushed over to his partner to see if she was okay, meanwhile Alyssa rushed to Lucas' side.

"Luc! Luc! Oh god please don't be dead," Alyssa said frantically.

Lucas coughed in pain and looked up to his partner, "can't kill me that easy," he said with pain in his voice.

"Oh, thank god," Alyssa said.

Lucas looked down at his wounds for a moment, "maybe some armor would be a good idea," he said with a light, yet pained laugh.

"Now is not the time to joke, come on let's get out of here," Alyssa said as she picked up Lucas and slung his arm over her shoulder to help him walk.

The two walked up to Cyrus who had Ruby and Bianca each slung over one of his shoulders.

"We need to get to the rendezvous point quickly," Cyrus said.

Alyssa sensed her unconscious cousin and bloodied aunt, and a look of concern came over her face, but she didn't say anything, there was no time for words right now.

Alyssa and Lucas carried Ruby and their respective partners back to the checkpoint to get them much needed medical attention, as fast as they possibly could.


	16. Aftermath

Chapter Sixteen: Aftermath

Bianca awoke in a hospital bed, she wasn't wearing her normal clothes, instead she had on a typical hospital gown. She looked around the room and saw a couple of people in the chairs across from her bed, her mother Weiss, and her partner, they were both asleep, her mother had a bandage on her cheek from where Roman had struck her with his cane.

As Bianca sat up she lightly grasped her head and clamped her eyes shut as she had a splitting headache. She let out a groan of pain and this awoke her mother and partner.

"Good morning honey, how are you feeling?" Weiss asked as she stood from her seat and walked over to her daughter.

"Headache, hurts bad," Bianca groaned.

"Don't worry, it'll pass, I'm so glad you're ok," Weiss said as she pulled Bianca into a light hug.

"Where is everyone?" Bianca asked.

"Last I saw, your Aunt Blake and cousins are visiting with your Aunt Yang and Lucas, they're in the room across the hall," Cyrus said as knelt next to Bianca's bed.

"Why aren't you with your brother?" Bianca asked.

"I was, but I decided to drop in on you, but you were still out and I guess I fell asleep while I waited for you to wake up," he replied.

As Bianca rubbed her temples to try and sooth her headache, the memories from the fight at the docks came flooding back one after another, freeing her family and friend, fighting Roman, her mother Ruby, then everything going white… As these memories came back, her eyes widened and she quickly looked to her mother Weiss.

"Where's mom? Is she okay?" Bianca asked frantically.

"Your mother, sh… she's alive, but…" Weiss hesitated to say.

"But what?" Bianca asked as she became more frantic.

Bianca threw the hospital bed blankets off her and started to quickly get up, only to be stopped by dizziness caused by her headache, the sudden dizziness caused her to fall back onto her bed.

"Hey, be careful," Cyrus said as he caught Bianca and helped her to lay back down.

"Please, try not to move too fast, you should take things slow after what happened," Weiss said.

"What do you mean 'what happened'?" Bianca inquired.

"Don't you remember the battle?" Cyrus asked.

"No, I do, it's just after Roman…" Bianca began to tear up slightly, "after what he did, everything went white," she continued.

"I knew it," Weiss said softly.

"Knew what?" Her daughter asked.

"You're special honey, and not in the 'mommy loves her special angel way,' it's much more than that… you, your mother, and her mother before her, are very special individuals, you have a trait that few possess in this world," Weiss said and then briefly glanced at Cyrus, indicating that he should pay attention as well, "Silver Eyes, I don't know much about it, other than the power you possess is greater than any semblance can give," she continued.

"What about our eyes makes any more special than anyone else?" Cyrus asked.

"That I can't say, Ruby never told me much about it, she wanted to be the one to tell Bianca when she was ready," Weiss replied.

"Well, why can't she?" Bianca inquired worriedly.

Weiss sighed as she looked to the ground and then back to her daughter, "I think it would be better to show you," she said.

Weiss left the room for a moment to fetch a nurse so they could clear Bianca to leave her room, after she did so, Weiss helped her daughter slowly get off the bed so she could see Ruby, her headache was still bothering her, but if she moved somewhat slowly it wouldn't hurt as much.

"Hey Bianca, I've been wondering, back on the roof, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Cyrus asked as they exited the room.

"Oh, I… It was nothing…" Bianca replied quietly.

As they exited the room, Bianca peered through the window of the door across from hers, sure enough her aunts, cousins, and teammate were all in there. Yang had several bandages on her face, covering the lacerations she had from the beating she got, while Lucas had a few large bandages across his chest and side.

Alyssa sensed her cousin's presence outside the room door and turned towards her, when she sensed she was looking into the room she smiled and waved in a relieved manner.

Bianca smiled and waved back, before then continuing down the hall with her mother and partner.

The hospital was fairly busy, the doctors and nurses were going about their tasks for the day, some were moving at a leisurely pace, while other were more hurried, but none were in a panic, for at the moment there appeared to be a lull in the day.

The three of them then turned down a corridor leading to another section of the hospital, the intensive care unit. When Bianca saw her mother turn down this hallway, she grew incredibly worried and began to fidget slightly while she walked.

Cyrus noticed his partner nervousness and he placed his hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down, but it didn't help much.

Weiss knocked on and then slowly opened the door of one of the rooms in the ICU, as they entered, the rhythmic sound of a heartbeat sensor could be heard along with the airy noise of an oxygen generator.

When she entered the room, Bianca's jaw dropped in shock as she saw her mother. Ruby was lying in the hospital bed, seemingly asleep and hooked up to several machines. Tears began to drop from Bianca's eyes as she looked upon her mother.

A doctor and nurse were looking over Ruby, when they noticed Weiss, Bianca, and Cyrus enter the room. The Doctor promptly walked over to where they were standing when he saw them.

"Hello, Mrs. Schnee-Rose," the doctor said.

"Hello, how's my wife doing?" Weiss replied softly.

"She's stable, but she isn't responding to anything, I'm afraid your wife is in a coma and no one knows when she'll wake up… if she'll wake up," the doctor replied.

"Anything else?" Weiss inquired softly.

"We did all we could to treat the stab wound in her lower back and belly, but there wasn't much we could do other than sew everything up," the doctor stated.

"What else is wrong with my mom?" Bianca asked as tears rolled down her cheeks.

The doctor looked to Bianca before he continued speaking, "the stab wound she suffered was far worse than we initially thought, the sword severed her spine and spinal cord completely just above her pelvic bone, an injury far too severe for even an aura to fix, I'm sorry to say, that if Mrs. Rose awakes from her coma, she will never be able to walk again, that is without the aid of prosthetics of course."

Bianca dropped to her knees in disbelief and began to bawl her eyes out, as she did this, Weiss knelt and gripped her in a tight hug, she had also begun to cry, even though this wasn't her first time hearing the news about her wife. Cyrus wanted to help them, but he felt it would be best to give the two of them some space.

A few days after the battle at the docks, Oscar met with some of the members of his inner circle in the vault below Beacon Tower. He, along with Ember, Calypso, and Adrián were standing around a wide table with the corpses of Merlot's abominations lying on them, one was cleaved near in half from the shoulder to the waist, another had its neck broken, and the final one looked to have died of some blunt force trauma to the head.

"Wh… what are they?" Calypso asked with surprised intrigue.

"They appear to be some type of Grimm," Oscar said and then pondered to himself.

"I'm too sober for this shit," Ember said and then took a drink from her calabash.

"Oye, if they're Grimm, shouldn't they have evaporated by now?" Adrián pointed out.

"Exactly, that's what I don't understand, also take a look at their eyes, they appear to be human," Oscar replied.

Adrián walked over to one of the abominations that wasn't cleaved in half, as the one that was, was far to damaged to be of much use. As he walked over to the abomination with the large dent in its head, he activated the claw in his robotic index finger and prepared to open the chest of the abomination.

"Let's find out what makes this thing tick," Adrián said.

As Adrián plunged his metal claw in the thing's chest and started to surgically cut it open, the elevator to the vault could be heard descending.

"Ah, that must be Winter," Oscar stated.

"You asked her to come?" Ember inquired.

"Yes, she does head up the largest and most advanced military in the world, and don't forget, she is also a member of this circle as well," Oscar replied.

The elevator doors opened as it reached the floor, but the person who stepped out was not Winter Schnee. The man was wearing a standard Atlesian military dress uniform, complete with a white beret with a patch of Atlas' emblem on left side, a matching tailcoat, buttoned up all the way to his neck, and matching dress pants, a dark gray belt, and patent leather dress boots. He was as tall as Oscar, if a little taller and a bit older as well, he had a well-groomed short black beard with a tiny bit of gray showing on his face, and blue eyes. Hanging from the right side of his belt was a metal buckler, the rim was divided into six sections, while the center boss had what looked like some kind of bolt in the middle of it.

He was escorted by a pair of Atlesian Knight-400s, the latest robotic soldiers in Atlas' military, they were not much different in appearance to the old AK-200s which they replaced around six years ago, they were only slightly bulkier and they possessed a secondary sword along with their standard blaster rifle.

"Well if it ain't Winter's dog, Captain Marcus Stallion," Ember said mockingly and loud enough for the man to hear.

"It's Major now," Marcus replied sharply as he walked up to the group, Oscar in specific, "General Schnee sends her apologies, some urgent business came up, she's sent me here in her stead," he continued as he removed his beret, revealing his black high and tight hair, and shook Oscar's hand.

"It's fine Marcus, if Winter trusts you then I do as well," Oscar replied as he shook Marcus' hand.

"Likewise, so tell me what is it you want Atlas' aid with?" Marcus replied.

Oscar stepped to the side to show Marcus the abominations. When he saw them, he walked up to them with a pondering look on his face.

"What are these things?" Marcus inquired.

"We think they're Grimm, but… well we really don't know what to call them," Calypso said.

"Adrián would you please continue," Oscar asked.

Adrián nodded, he then plunged his claw into the abomination's chest and began to slide it down, after a second however, the beast jumped up from the pain of being cut and slashed at Adrián.

Adrián jumped back, barely managing to block the abomination's strike, the blow put several gashes in the huntsman's robotic arm.

Marcus jumped in front of Oscar and drew his buckler after the beast attacked Adrián, the bolt in the center opened and a long spike extended from it.

As the beast leapt from the table it was on, Calypso planted three throwing needles in the back of its head, causing it to fall to the ground dead.

"You ok?" Calypso asked.

Adrián looked down at his damaged robotic arm briefly before replying, "Yeah, just a scratch."

Adrián and Calypso picked up the body of the abomination and placed it back on the table, due to the damage to Adrián's arm Calypso took charge of slicing the beast open, using one of her retractable daggers to do so.

After she finished surgically opening the chest and belly of the abomination, Calypso, along with the rest of people standing around it, investigated its interior anatomy and were shocked at what they saw. When they opened the beast, its bone structure was slightly warped, small cracks all over, denoting sudden growth, but the overall structure was that of a human or faunus. Its entrails were also that of a human or faunus, but the blood vessels within them were noticeably black.

"Ok, last time I checked, Grimm shouldn't have the same anatomy of a human," Ember said.

"We don't know what the interior anatomy of a Grimm is, but even so this is strange," Calypso stated.

"Well, we know what the inside of this one looks like," Ember retorted.

"This specimen looks to be some kind of hybrid between a human and a Grimm," Oscar stated.

"How is that even possible?" Marcus asked.

"This just brings up more questions than answers," Ember said as she took yet another drink from her calabash.

"Perhaps there is someone who could answer these questions," Oscar said.

"Who?" Marcus asked.

"Doctor Merlot," Oscar replied.

"After what that psycho helped do to Ruby and her family, you want to get his help?" Calypso said in disbelief.

"The man may be mad, but he's genius when it comes to the Grimm," Oscar said.

Merlot was sitting in a jail cell at the VPD headquarters awaiting his transfer to a prison for holding until he was to be tried for the crimes he had committed, both new and old. In the jail cell across from his were Bear and his men, they were pretty badly beaten up, but what could one expect form common thugs fighting trained hunters. As Merlot continued to sit and brew in his frustration with being foiled yet again by Ruby Rose, he began to wonder where his assistant was during the fight at the docks, and where her associates had gone after the battle, were they killed, had they abandoned him, Roman, and Neo to their fates, he pondered these thoughts for a long while, never quite coming to an answer he liked.

Merlot looked up from his pondering to see the police chief and a few officers walk up to his cell.

"Merlot, stand up, turn around and place your hands on your head," the chief ordered.

Merlot did as the police chief ordered, he felt there was no sense fighting, after all, what could an old man with no semblance do to fight several armed and trained police officers.

After the chief unlocked the cell, one of the officers walked up to Merlot and pulled his arms from his head to his lower back and handcuffed them.

"So, I take it my ride to the big house is here?" Merlot asked rhetorically.

"Not quite, someone wanted to speak with your sorry old ass before you got put away for good," the chief replied condescendingly.

The police chief and officers escorted Merlot to the interrogation room, where they were met by Ember and Adrián. The two hunters took Merlot off the VPD's hands for the time being.

"You mind telling me what you want this scumbag for?" The police chief asked.

"It's official huntsman business," Adrián replied.

"Yeah, we'll call you when we're done with him, also, you can remove his handcuffs," Ember added.

"Very well," the police chief replied, after removing Merlot's handcuffs and handing them to Ember he left with his officers.

Ember and Adrián then let Merlot into the interrogation room where he was met by Oscar and Marcus standing at the opposite side of a long table with a body bag on it. Ember and Adrián then entered the observation room where Calypso was, and watched the meeting unfold.

"Ah, why hello Oscar, or shall I call you Oz," Merlot said with a smirk.

"There's no sense in trying to play mind games, I already know you know about Ozpin and I, now if you would, please come here," Oscar replied.

Merlot walked up to Oscar and Marcus, the body bag lying on the table in front of them had drawn his attention, it appeared to have something humanoid inside of it. He continued to stare at it until he reached the table.

"So, what is this, have you brought me a present?" Merlot asked condescendingly.

"No, we need help identifying something, given your past experiments, I felt your… expertise, would be valuable in the matter, even though I have faced a bit of protest from some associates of mine," Oscar replied.

Oscar then unzipped the body bag to reveal the abomination within it.

Upon seeing his own creation presented before him, Merlot broke into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Marcus asked seriously.

Merlot composed himself and ceased his laughing, "what you have brought before me is my own creation," he stated.

Marcus, Calypso, Adrián, and Ember were all somewhat shocked by this revelation, however Oscar didn't seem the least bit surprised.

"I had a feeling you were behind this, if it's some new type of Grimm you've engineered then why hasn't it evaporated yet?" Oscar stated.

"Oh, it's more than just a mere Grimm," Merlot stated and then began to pace back and forth, "you see through my life I've looked to give the Grimm purpose, where you people saw nightmares, I saw beauty and promise in nature's freaks," Merlot paused before continuing, "in my travels in this world I've seen a great many types of Grimm, some smarter than others, but they all have one key characteristic, unchecked aggression, older Grimm may have grown wise enough to pick their battles, but once in combat they lack self-control, simply throwing themselves at whatever they fight. While journeying all over Remnant, I found something, a strange liquid that birthed Grimm, it mesmerized me, and I took some of it to study…" Merlot was cut off.

"So, you grew this thing from that liquid then?" Oscar asked.

"Not exactly," Merlot replied, "after experimenting on small creatures like rodents I moved to larger animals, dogs and cats, I found that when I injected this liquid into the specimens, they're bodies became Grimm-like and they became more aggressive, but not to the same level of actual Grimm, and they seemed to retain their mental capacities. After these tests I moved onto the smartest animals of all, humans and faunus," he continued.

"This guy is loco en la cabeza," Adrián stated as he listened to Merlot speak.

"Mhmm," Ember said.

"Agreed," Calypso stated.

"Faunus weren't that accepting of the liquid, all of them died in the process, but humans…" Merlot smiled, "voilà," he said as he waved his arm over his creation.

"So Oscar's theory was right, this thing is… was human," Marcus said in a bit of disbelief.

"Yes, still technically is," Merlot said with a sadistic smile, "it took me a few tries before I perfected the liquid, effectively turning it into a serum, but I was successful, this hybrid is my greatest work, my magnum opus," he continued.

"That's enough, Ember, give the doctor back to the VPD, we're done with him," Oscar stated.

Ember entered the interrogation room and handcuffed Merlot. As they were walking out of the room, Merlot shot Oscar a sadistic smile.

"So, it's a Human Grimm," Marcus said.

"That appears to be the case," Oscar replied.

"If I might ask, may I take one of the specimens back to Atlas for further study?" Marcus asked.

"Yes, but keep it need to know, only your best and most trusted scientists should have access to this," Oscar replied.

"Very well," Marcus agreed, "now if you don't mind, I'm going to take my leave, I want to see my children before I go back to Atlas," he continued.

"Ok, but remember, this is need to know, so neither Yaara nor Roy should hear of this," Oscar said.

"Of course," Marcus replied and then left the interrogation room.

Calypso and Adrián entered the interrogation room after Marcus left and as Oscar was zipping the body bag back up.

"So, what do you two make of this?" Oscar asked.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know," Adrián said.

Calypso seemed to be pondering something to herself, Oscar and Adrián took notice of this and turned to their compatriot.

"What are you thinkin' about Cal?" Adrián asked.

"I don't know, I just got this feeling that that man, Merlot, is connected to our missing maiden somehow," Calypso said.

"What makes you say that?" Oscar inquired.

"Think about it, she has been able to hide from us within the walls of the kingdom for five years, and she's only ever seemingly popped up a few times in that span, the murders of noted criminals in vale, being most of them," Calypso said.

"Those could've been anyone, like vigilantes or rivals," Adrián said.

"True, but even though it was rare, whenever there was any kind of witness, they mostly described a young woman who shot flames from her hands," Calypso said.

"I see your point on those crimes, but I don't see how he's connected to her," Adrián said.

"Well, he was hold-up in a fairly inconspicuous location, he was obviously able to hide out there for a while, and also, what's a doctor without an assistant," Calypso said.

"Hmm, you may be right," Oscar said as he pondered what Calypso said.

Oscar, Calypso, and Adrián left the interrogation room and headed to the front of the VPD headquarters to meet up with Ember and leave, along the way they passed by the holding cells where Merlot was being kept. As they walked by, Oscar stopped and turned to Merlot.

"I have one more question for you Merlot," Oscar said.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Merlot inquired.

"Other than Roman and Neo, have you had any other associates with you in your little hideout, a young woman perhaps, around her late teens to early twenties?" Oscar asked.

Merlot hesitated to answer for a moment, "no," he said.

Oscar stepped back from the bars of the cell, he had a very skeptical look on his face, not accepting the old doctor's answer. He then continued on with his companions to meet with their other compatriot.

"He's lying," Calypso said.

"I know, we can get what we need from him later though," Oscar stated.

The three of them met up with Ember and they left the headquarters of the VPD and headed back to Beacon to continue their search for the missing Summer Maiden.

A few hours later, the VPD police chief and several armed officers came to Merlot's cell and handcuffed him once again, this time leading him to the parking lot behind the VPD headquarters. They handed him over to four members of the VDF who were taking him to be imprisoned at a government controlled prison to await trial. The members of the VDF put Merlot in the back of an armored transport truck and two of them got in back with him, while the other two got into the front seats. After making sure everything was in order for the transfer of the prisoner, the VDF transport left the police headquarters and made its way towards a prison south of the city.

About an hour after the transport left the confines of the city, a Bullhead suddenly came out of nowhere and flew low over the top of the VDF transport.

The door to the transport opened and Rouge leaned out of it, while holding onto a handrail, she had on the outfit she did when she left the docks before the battle, she also had a harness on with a rope attached to it, and the rope was attached to a winch inside the Bullhead.

Rouge leapt from the Bullhead and dropped onto the roof of the VDF transport, from there she made her way to the back of the truck.

Once there she drew what looked to be a sword handle from her lower back and she activated it, revealing its double blades, with this weapon, she easily sliced through the locks and hinges of the rear doors of the transport.

One of the VDF soldiers drew his pistol and began to fire at Rouge, but she skillfully blocked the rounds with her sword while she entered the back of the transport.

Once inside she split her weapon into its second form, twin short swords, the second guard drew a shock baton and he lunged at Rouge.

Rouged sliced the soldier several times with precisely weaved slashes from her swords and sent him falling out the back of the truck.

The second soldier lunged at Rouge as well, but his fate was the same as the first.

Rouge deactivated her weapon and put it away, she then grabbed Merlot and they stood on the back bumper of the truck, as they did this, one of the soldiers in the front had opened the bullet proof glass that separated the cab from the transport compartment.

Before this soldier could start shooting, Rouge launched a ball of fire from her hand and into the cab, setting it aflame.

Rouge leapt from the back of the transport truck while holding onto Merlot as it lost control and flipped several times and then exploded.

Rouge and Merlot were pulled into the Bullhead by the winch and then the door closed and they flew east, away from the scene.

"Thank you Rouge, I knew you wouldn't leave me," Merlot said as he sat down on one of the bench seats within the Bullhead, "now will you do me a favor and get these damn cuffs off me," he continued as he looked down at his handcuffs and began to try to squeeze his hands out of them.

As Merlot looked up from his cuffs, he saw not only Rouge standing over him, but also her companions, Jet and Nilah as well. He looked at them with a bit of a confused look for a moment as Rouge had a very serious look on her face and Nilah was grinning quite psychotically at him.

"What is this about?" Merlot asked, "isn't this a rescue or am I going crazy?" He added.

"It was of sorts," Rouge replied and then walked up to Merlot, "you see, you're both irredeemable, and a loose end that needs to be tied up," she continued.

"Irredeemable… What are you on about Rouge?" Merlot asked in confusion.

"You see, all the time I've been in your service, I was scouting you, to see if such an intelligent man as yourself, was worthy of joining me in the new world I'm going to create, I was willing to look past you helping those terrible individuals… Roman and Neo, but those experiments you did on those men, that abomination you created, that proved to me you are unworthy of salvation," Rouge said.

"Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that, if it weren't for me, you'd be living in the gutters right now!" Merlot shot back.

Rouge chuckled at Merlot's comment, "oh I beg to differ," she said and then ignited flames in her hands.

"So what, you can use dust, anyone with half a brain can learn to use it," Merlot said.

"Oh really, can dust do this?" Rouge asked rhetorically.

Rouge then froze the flames solid and the two balls of ice dropped into her palms, from there she quickly melted the balls of ice to water and then manipulated it to ride up her arms to her shoulders and then back down her arms to her hands, all the while keeping it from drenching her clothes, or getting them wet at all, when the water returned to her hands, she levitated the orbs of water, refroze them, and then ignited them back into flames, before then quickly extinguishing the flames.

Merlot looked on in awe, in all his years on Remnant, through all his travels had never seen anything like what Rouge just did.

"Wh… what was that?" He asked in disbelief.

"I haven't been entirely truthful with you about my identity Merlot," Rouge said and then properly bowed, "I am Rouge Armina," she then stood back up, "the Summer Maiden," she continued.

"A maiden? That's just a fairytale," Merlot said skeptically.

"All myth is based on some semblance of fact Merlot," Rouge replied.

"Ok, suppose you are who you say you are, why wait to tell me now?" Merlot asked.

"You were not worthy of knowing," Rouge said.

"And now?" Merlot inquired.

"You're still not worthy, I just felt you should know who your assistant truly was before you died," Rouge replied and then turned around, "Jet would you please join me in the cockpit, and Nilah… take your time with the doctor, he's quite old and frail," she continued.

Nilah got a huge manic smile on her face as she activated her bladed war fans and walked towards Merlot menacingly.

"Rouge wait please! I'm begging you, give me another chance!" Merlot cried out.

Rouge ignored him and entered the cockpit with Jet as Nilah stopped just in front of him.

"Don't worry, we're gonna have fun," Nilah said manically, before then slashing Merlot across the face with one of her war fans.

Rouge and Jet entered the cockpit as they heard a mixture of Nilah's psychotic laughter and Merlot's bloodcurdling screams of pain and terror, they closed the door behind them, muffling the laughter and screams, but not entirely silencing it.

As Rouge took control of the Bullhead, the on-board communications system activated; they were being contacted by someone.

"Hello Rommel, what do you need?" Rouge asked.

"Hello mein lady, I vould like to know zee rendezvous point vhere zee men und I are to meet you, Jet, und Nilah," Rommel replied.

Rouge paused for a moment before replying, "Mistral," she said.

"Very vell mein lady," Rommel said.

After concluding the call Rouge and Jet continued to fly the Bullhead east, out of Sanus and the Kingdom of Vale, and towards Anima and the Kingdom of Mistral.

End Volume One.


	17. Thank you (non-story chapter)

Ok, so I meant to post this earlier in the week, but I've been busy with school, college summer classes and all, anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reads my story, and a special thank you goes out to those who have followed and/or favorited it, your support really means a lot.

I have had fun writing this story and I hope you have enjoyed this journey that is 'RWBY BLAC'. Now, some of you are probably wondering if I am going to continue this story, and the answer is a most definite yes, however I'm sorry to say that Volume Two will not come out till about a week or two after Volume Five of 'RWBY' ends, this is because there is some info I need for the next volume that the show hasn't covered yet, but will be covered in the next volume of the show.

Also, Volume Two of 'RWBY BLAC' will be presented as its own individual story and will not be added onto this story, because well, this story is already over 100k words, so I feel it would be a bit cumbersome, for lack of a better term, to continue adding to this story post. However, I will not be "dead" and nor will this series between now and then, I'm planning to release a collection of "short" stories related to side and background characters in the story, along with events that are a part of this story that occurred before it. I'm taking a couple of weeks off from writing as I've been writing for almost the past five months with this story, so follow me, if that's a possibility, and keep an eye out for those, they will be presented as one collection, not individual story posts.

One final thing, if you guys could let me know one thing you thought I did good with this story and one thing you thought I could improve on, let me know via PM or in the comments on this "chapter", also if there was anything in particular you liked about the story you can post that too. This is just a personal request so I can critique myself and writing style, you don't have to post anything if you don't want to.

Thanks again for all the support and I wish you the best in all your writing endeavors.

With appreciation,

CyrusBlack1


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